A Camelot Calamity
by lordtrayus
Summary: Nimueh and Mordred are moving ahead in their plan to destroy Camelot. Meanwhile, Merlin and Morgana, secretly in a relationship, must work together to defeat the threats within Camelot's walls, while preparing to tell Arthur the truth about Merlin's magic
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin sadly**

A Camelot Calamity

Sunlight streamed through the window into the bedroom, illuminating the two people on the bed in dazzling light.

Merlin woke slowly, and felt so warm and sleepy that he just wanted to go back to sleep again. His mood was further improved when he remembered that Arthur had given him the day off. Smiling to himself, he rolled over slightly, adjusting his arm over Morgana's sleeping naked torso. She stirred slightly, and smiling to himself he began to gently thread his fingers through her long dark hair. He couldn't believe it. After everything the two of them had been through together, friends, mortal enemies and now this, it was beyond belief. Just last night he had told her that he was a sorcerer, saved her life and told her he loved her. And now this.

"Don't stop." She mumbled sleepily, squirming so she came closer to his bare chest.

"Alright." He said softly, continuing to stroke her hair, and allowing his hand to gently caress her shoulder and down her back.

"What do we do now?" she asked, taking his hand and caressing it with her thumb.

"I don't know. I mean, we can't go about pretending this didn't happen." He said gently.

She smiled slightly. Any other guy had she asked that question would have suggested a much more physical answer. But Merlin wasn't like that, he was much too sweet. And he did raise a good point. She certainly didn't want to pretend that this hadn't happened. Far from it.

"I know. I can't pretend that I don't love you, and that last night wasn't, well, amazing." She said, and she could virtually hear the satisfied grin coming onto his face. Just because he was sweet didn't mean he wasn't a normal guy.

"Me neither. So we can't pretend it didn't happen. Where does that leave us?" he asked, kissing her shoulder.

Morgana wondered. They couldn't go back to where they had been. They had been friends, close friends, yes, but now something had changed. Maybe it was magically charged, she didn't know. After all, they were the two strongest magical beings in the kingdoms. But it was obvious they couldn't go back. They could only go forward.

"We could keep it a secret." He suggested huskily.

Morgana thought about it. They both loved each other. They wanted to be together. The only problem would be everyone else would be opposed to it. A servant with a princess? Most people had only tolerated Arthur marrying Gwen because he had saved them from her in the first place. There was also the fact that she was still relatively unpopular, particularly with the nobles, despite her fight with Madvedor the night before. The Wicked Witch of Camelot was meant to marry some far off living noble so she could never threaten Camelot, or more importantly the nobles wealth, ever again, not fall for a servant, even if he was the servant of the king. And there was also the king himself. Arthur was Merlin's best friend. But he was also her brother. How would he react if he found out about the two of them? Morgana had a nagging feeling in her gut that it wouldn't end well, and considering the rather big bombshell he had dropped the night before about him being a sorcerer, she feared there would only be so much that Arthur would be able to take. So what did they do?

"It's risky." She said sadly, and Merlin stroked her cheek tenderly.

"So's the fact that I'm a sorcerer in personal service to the king of Camelot. I've been at risk ever since I came here, and so have you. What's one more?" he asked stubbornly, and she did have to smile at that.

She rolled onto her front and turned to face him, looking at his warm, living eyes.

"I suppose it did work for Arthur and Gwen. Could we make it work though?" she asked, and Merlin grinned and kissed her cheek excitedly.

"They never got caught because I was clever enough not to let them. And seeing as we are cleverer than Arthur, it shouldn't be much of a problem." He said with a grin and she laughed.

"True. And I know I don't want to stop being with you." She said, kissing him softly on the lips.

"And I don't want to stop being with you either. So...we're keeping it a secret?" he asked softly and optimistically, and she nodded.

"Yes we are. You're mine now." She said seductively and kissed him again, and he rolled away from her, lying on his back.

"You know, I have the day off." He commented idly, and she smiled, seeing what he was getting at.

"Oh. Well, amazing though you were, I wouldn't be adverse to showing you a few tricks." She said with a seductive smile, and he grinned.

"Really? And where would a princess such as you learn such things I wonder?" he asked cockily, and she grinned.

"You're just going to have to try and find out." She whispered tauntingly, and kissed him again, while his hand stroked down her back, the sun shining on the two of them as they did so.

XX

"Why are you so cheerful?" Arthur asked with a smile the next day as they strolled through the grounds.

"What, I'm not allowed to be in a good mood now either? You moan when I'm miserable, you moan when I'm cheerful, there's just no pleasing you at times is there?" Merlin asked with a smile, and Arthur laughed.

"Alright, I'll admit I prefer it when you're happy. You didn't do that much you know." He said, and Merlin glowered at him affectionately.

"I only saved your sister, killed Madvedor and most likely prevented him from destroying Camelot. Give me some credit!"

Arthur laughed.

"Alright, you win! You saved the day, you happy now?" he asked.

"Yes. About time I got some credit, I do everything around here anyway." Merlin taunted with a grin and ducked out of the way as Arthur tried to smack him in the head.

"Alright. Your heroics aside, I've got more immediate problems." Arthur said, and Merlin looked at him curiously.

"Really? Like what?" he asked curiously.

"New knights." Arthur said, and Merlin looked at him in surprise.

It had been a while since he had even considered training new knights. After Lancelot's death, resurrection and subsequent betrayal, he had been fairly opposed to the idea, sometimes losing his rag with Merlin whenever his friend brought it up. Tristan had been an exception, he had fought with Arthur valiantly to reclaim the kingdom and after he had lost Isolde, he had been needing a purpose in life, so Arthur had granted him a knighthood. But for him to actually be considering training new knights...

"Really? You're going to train new knights? Because last time I mentioned training more knights you yelled at me to mind my own business and sent me away." Merlin said softly, deliberately making his voice sound sad to make Arthur feel bad.

Arthur scuffed his feet, and looked at the ground to avoid looking at Merlin, and Merlin grinned. Score one to him.

"I know, and I shouldn't have, ok? But I'm finally taking your advice, I'm going to train some new knights." He said firmly.

Merlin looked at him curiously.

"Um, ok, but why tell me? You're the one who's always telling me I cant tell which end of the sword is which, so what good will I do?" he asked curiously, and Arthur smiled a little.

"Well, totally inept at wielding a sword though you are, you are a pretty good judge of character. So, I want you to help me vet them, see what ones you think can't be trusted." Arthur said and Merlin looked at him in surprise.

"You want my help to see if a knight is trustworthy? That mean you'll actually listen to me for once?" Merlin asked cockily, and Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Yes."

"My word will be gold, no contradictions?" Merlin wheedled, and Arthur rolled his eyes again.

"Yes."

"And I can get a pay rise?" Merlin asked hopefully, and Arthur answered automatically.

"Yes." He said, but as soon as he did, he looked furious with himself while Merlin grinned triumphantly.

"I didn't mean that!" Arthur protested, and Merlin sighed theatrically.

"But you said it. And a knight of Camelot never goes back on their word. After all, they're honourable. And besides, how will Gwen react if someone happened to accidentally let slip that you promised me a pay rise and didn't go through with it? She might take a very dim view of the knights then, and with her husband being the leader, well..." Merlin said sadly and leadingly, and Arthur glowered at him.

"You know, there's times I really don't like you." He said, and Merlin smiled.

"I know."

"So what brought this on?"

"You mean other than to stop you nagging? Alright, but you can't tell anyone. We're entering into an alliance with the eastern kingdoms." Arthur muttered as a group of servants passed by.

Merlin frowned, trying to remember, then it dawned on him.

"The eastern kingdoms are the one that nominated the one king to speak for them aren't they? Aulric or something?" he asked and Arthur rolled his eyes.

"King Alaric but yes, they are. They have a lot of wealth, resources and knights, and an alliance with them will benefit Camelot. But, as we're keeping it quiet, only a few knights will make up each delegation when we go. And it'll be a pretty poor lookout if Camelot shows up with only five knights, hence why I've asked Percival to train more." Arthur explained.

Merlin frowned. The potential for something to go wrong was great then, and new knights would only heighten the danger, not lessen it. At least they knew they could trust the knights they already had.

"So you want me to help Percival figure out who should actually be made knights?"

"Exactly."

Merlin nodded, and then looked at Arthur curiously.

"Why we doing it so secretly?" he asked in a low tone and Arthur looked around warily before lowering his voice.

"There's been rumours going around. Odin is growing restless, and we're getting some weird reports from Lot's kingdom as well." He whispered.

Merlin felt his stomach drop. King Odin of Bernicia had long despised Camelot, a feeling heightened when Arthur had killed his son, who had foolishly challenged Arthur to a duel to the death. He had been behind several assassination attempts against Arthur and had been the one who had sent the assassin that had mortally wounded Uther. He had also been continually probing Camelot's defences for years and if he was now getting restless enough to contemplate war, an alliance with the powerful eastern countries would be most useful.

King Lot was the current ruler of Essetir, where Merlin had originally come from. The cousin of the last king, Cenred, he had assumed the throne after Morgause had turned on Cenred before her invasion of Camelot.

"What sort of reports?" Merlin asked worriedly, fearing his mother might be put in danger by chaos in Essetir.

Arthur frowned as they entered Arthur and Gwen's room, and Arthur dropped into the chair behind his desk.

"Reports that we shouldn't be. Rumours that Cenred is still alive. And it's making me uneasy." He said worriedly.

Merlin frowned. Any trouble in Essetir could mean trouble for his mother, which could also spill over into Camelot. Maybe an alliance would suit everyone.

"So that's why you need the new knights, to meet Alaric? Don't you trust him?" Merlin asked as he tidied Arthur's desk.

"A good king doesn't trust any other kings Merlin. But as far as such things go, yes, Alaric is relatively trustworthy." Arthur said, signing a paper on his desk.

"Is this about Morgana?" Merlin asked suspiciously, a trickle of anger slipping into him.

"What? No. Anyway, she did herself a lot of favours holding off Madvedor the way she did. No, I just don't trust any of the other kingdoms that's all. That's why we're keeping it quiet. Only me and the knights will go. Hence, I need more knights than the ones we have, and also need to know they're trustworthy, which is where you come in." He explained, and Merlin nodded.

"Who else knows about this?" he asked and Arthur shook his head.

"No one aside from you and Gwen, and I'll tell Morgana later, see if I can't get on her good side and get her to come to council meetings to scare irritating lords." He said wistfully, and Merlin rolled his eyes.

Merlin looked at his best friend, who was trusting him to help prune out the knights of Camelot, basically asking Merlin who he should have in his inner circle. And here he was, a sorcerer, the one who had unintentionally killed his father, and the one who had killed his uncle, and was now also seeing Morgana in secret. That left an unpleasant feeling in his stomach. He had kept the secret for far too long now. There would be no way Arthur could ever forgive him for being a sorcerer. Morgana was different, she was his sister, and most of her actions were down to Uther and Morgause anyway and a misguided sense of revenge. There would be no way that he would ever forgive Merlin. Slightly sobered by this thought, he turned to leave, and when Arthur didn't stop him he made a run for it, before his guilt ate away at his restraint.

XX

Merlin was heading back to his room after sticking a bedpan in Arthur and Gwen's bed (aimed more to Arthur's side so he might singe his foot), when an arm suddenly clasped him on the shoulder and dragged him into a shadowy alcove, before kissing him deeply and passionately.

"You're going to get us caught." He whispered to her, and she smiled seductively.

"Not likely. Besides, we're the strongest sorcerers in the land. Surely we could think of something." Morgana whispered kissing his cheek.

He laid his forehead against hers and sighed, and he felt her hand cup his face, and he brought his gaze up to look into her worried green eyes.

"Merlin, what is it?" she asked worriedly.

"I can't keep it quiet much longer." He admitted, and she looked at him in confusion.

"Hey, you're the one who said we should keep it a secret." She pointed out, and he rolled his eyes.

"Not what I meant. I mean about me, what I am. He's never going to forgive me, I know he isn't." He admitted, and he sounded so sad and pitiful that Morgana had to bring him close to her and hug him tightly.

"Alright. How about we work on telling Arthur together? Work up to telling him what you really are?" she asked, and he shrugged.

"I don't know. I mean, he's finally learning to trust me over obscure family members and I'm keeping this from him, I just feel so awful. I'm fed up of hiding." He mumbled and she stroked his cheek tenderly.

"It'll be alright Merlin. Out of interest, did Gaius say anything about you not being in bed last night?" she asked looking furtively up and down the corridor.

Merlin grinned slightly and took her chin in his hand.

"No he didn't. And besides I was in bed, just not the one most people would expect me to be in." He said with a cocky grin and kissed her cheek before disappearing from the alcove leaving Morgana laughing behind him.

XX

The glade was covered with trees, but that did little to protect from the rain. A small fire was up ahead, and the two people who were trudging through the mud towards the fire were bound for it, hoping to find their quarry. However, while the rain was pelting down on top of them, neither of them were wet at all. The first was a tall young man with bright blue eyes and black hair, which hung down to his shoulders in tight rings. His face was pale and there was something in his vivid blue eyes, an almost feral presence, something monstrous. He was clad in black armour, which was embossed with a golden sigil, a sort of sideways H, with an arrow head cutting through it and a spot in each gap.

The second was a woman. Clad in a deep red travelling cloak, it surrounded her slim body, which was covered by a red dress. Her face was soft and pale, her hair black and her eyes a glistening shade of green. As they approached the glade, she raised her hand, and there was a shimmer, allowing the two to pass into the glade, which was dry and warm.

And then there was a sword at both their throats.

The black knight was quick. Training for the last two weeks had given him an edge, and he quickly unsheathed his sword, Clarent, forged from magic and birthed in dragon fire, and knocked the sword away from his neck. The woman simply raised a hand and the sword leapt out of her assailants hand, and a gust of wind ripped through the camp, knocking a group of over two dozen people off of their feet and sent them slamming to the ground.

"I hardly think that is the way you ought to treat a High Priestess Alvarr." She bit out angrily, as the black knight came to her side, grinning wickedly.

"Lady Nimueh! I heard you were dead!" Alvarr said in shock, bowing before her.

"I was unfortunately. Now I'm not. And I trust you haven't forgotten an old accomplice of yours either?" she asked, indicating the black knight.

Alvarr looked at him searchingly, but it was the woman who was beside Alvarr who looked up at him in awe, a tall woman with reddish hair styled high on her head.

"Mordred, is that you?" she asked in shock and he smiled at her.

"Hello Enmyria." He said, and Nimueh conjured thrones for her and Mordred, and beckoned for Alvarr and his band to rise.

Nimueh looked around the clearing. Around thirty people, all dressed in either rags or various imitations of armour, the only ones who looked appropriately dressed for combat where Alvarr and Enmyria. They were the sorriest sight of warlocks and other magic users that she had ever seen, and considering her age she had seen a fair few. But, they did have some talent, which could only be useful.

"What can we do for you my lady? As you can see, my warriors are at your command." Alvarr said, looking at her reverently.

Nimueh exchanged a look with Mordred and they had to turn away from each other to avoid laughing. Calling this sorry group warriors was being all too generous. But, best not to upset him. He did have some uses, and he was a deadly opponent. She was here to recruit, not to fight.

Alvarr had been exiled from Camelot with the advent of the purge, and had since then dedicated himself to the downfall of the Pendragon dynasty. He had rallied a group of outlaws to his cause, most of them magical, with the intent of destroying Camelot. However, it had gone wrong when he had allied with Mordred, and implicated Morgana, giving Arthur the leeway to go after him. Alvarr's forces had been either killed or scattered, and he was only just now regaining his strength.

"As I would expect. I need your help. You will accompany me to the Isle of the Blessed, where you will remain at my command. You Alvarr, will also help with Mordred's training. I have a plan to give you all what you desire: the downfall of Camelot and the death of Arthur. But for that patience will be needed, which means the clever little scheme you were planning on using Alvarr cannot be used." She said coldly, and he looked at her in shock.

"My plan would..."

"Only get you killed. After Morgana smuggled Helios' army in last time the city fell, Arthur cracked down on any and all ways into the city. You'd have gotten up the escape route you found me outside of and would have been confronted by the Knights of the Round Table." Mordred said dismissively.

Nimueh smiled. The years on his own had clearly hardened his heart. Good, that suited her.

"Oh. We didn't know that. Thank you Mordred. Though I think my warriors are a match for the knights." Alvarr said stiffly, and Nimueh rolled her eyes.

"No Alvarr they're not. The knights are all very good and what is more, there are soon going to be more of them, Arthur is training more." Nimueh said dismissively, and Enmyria raised an eyebrow.

"Then surely we should strike before they act?" she asked, and Mordred shook his head.

"Aren't you listening? She has a plan, one that we won't pull off if we charge in before we're ready." He snapped.

"And the knights won't be a problem. I have people on the inside who will keep me apprised of those developments. The knights of Camelot aren't the main problem. Merlin is." Nimueh said, and Alvarr looked at her curiously.

"Arthur's serving boy? How does he pose a threat to one such as you?" he asked respectfully, and she grimaced and prodded herself all over to make sure she was still there.

"You'd be surprised." She said grimly, and Mordred grinned a little.

"Merlin is Emrys."

The effect of that simple statement was profound. Alvarr and Enmyria glanced at each other in wonder, there were several noises of awe from everyone else in the camp and several of them started cowering in fear.

"Emrys? And he's working with Arthur? He should be with us, working to destroy Camelot once and for all!" Alvarr bellowed, slamming his fist into his hand for emphasis.

"I agree Alvarr. The problem is he's too bent on the will of Arthur, he's much too loyal and fond of him for that to ever happen. He sees it as his duty to protect Arthur and despite our very best efforts over the years, he had performed the task quite well. But while Emrys is in Camelot, an attack there would be foolhardy." Nimueh purred.

"Especially now he's bedded Morgana." Mordred growled irritably, and Nimueh rolled her eyes. That crush of his was getting on her nerves. Mind you, if it made him want vengeance she couldn't complain that much.

"So you come to us for aid, witch, but we cannot attack Camelot. What is it you want of us?" a grubby looking bald man demanded irritably.

Nimueh hissed and sent a jet of fire from her finger at him, incinerating him on the spot.

"Silence from pathetic worms for one thing. Yes I know that it is frustrating to not be able to attack Camelot, but patience is our best weapon here." She said, and Alvarr looked at the pile of ash that was a member of his group not ten seconds before.

"So what do you need us for my lady?"

"Magic is in chaos. While I have plans in place to distract Merlin and his witch, I will need your group's help to protect the Isle of the Blessed from prying eyes, especially if that overgrown lizard of Merlin's comes for a look. Your spell casters will help me protect the island, and also help in rituals, while training under you and Enmyria, properly, with Cenred's supervision. However," she began, overriding Alvarr and Enmyria, who both looked like they were about to interrupt, "I will also need your help for other things. Alvarr, you will help dear Lancelot to teach Mordred here everything he needs to know in order to overcome any enemy, you will be another of his tutors, along with carrying out other duties for me. And Enmyria my former pupil," she said fondly, and Enmyria smiled, "you will carry out the duties you used to." She said fondly.

"I trust these duties will be appropriately useful for our ends?" Alvarr asked excitedly, and Nimueh smiled slowly.

"I can promise you this Alvarr. Serve me well and all you ever dreamed of will come true." She assured him, and as one the entire group bent to their knees.

"Then, we are yours to command mistress." Alvarr said, and Nimueh and Mordred smiled at each other sinisterly.

XX

The powerful coastal fortress capital of the kingdom of Bernicia was an imposing sight for all who traversed the land around it. However, it was nothing compared to its king.

King Odin had long held a grudge against Camelot, and its ruler Arthur, who had killed his son in a duel many years before. Ever since then Odin had been determined to exact revenge against Camelot, and had come close to success with his last attempt, the Gleeman, who had nearly killed Arthur and had mortally wounded Uther. But when it had become clear that Arthur had survived, and was now king, he had stepped up his attempts to try and kill him even more, an attempt further exacerbated by the presence of Morgana, who Odin feared. He knew he had to strike and take down Arthur and his queen before they had firmly cemented their rule, and above all else before they sired an heir, and then he would need to take out the witch as well. And then, Camelot would be his, and his son could finally lie at rest.

And it was his ever increasing desire to kill Arthur that had brought the man stood before him to his attention.

He was a stout man, dressed in hanging black robes. His black beard was perfectly trimmed, and his long black hair was falling in scraggly curtains around his shoulders. His eyes were black, as was the turban around his head, and the expression on his face was nothing short of ferocious, beastlike. His name wasn't known, he was simply known as the Hassassin. He had come from a foreign land with slavers, but had escaped, killed them all and had made it perfectly clear that he would never be shackled again. After that, he had gone around the kingdoms, becoming the most well known and deadly assassin in the kingdoms, second only to Myror, who Odin had previously hired. And now, he was being hired to finish the job Myror had failed to do.

"You know what I want done. I want Arthur Pendragon dead. Can you achieve it?" Odin asked, and the man nodded his head.

"It shall be done." He said and turned and left the throne room at a steady walk.

Odin reclined on his throne and smiled. Soon Arthur would die. And even if he didn't, it had been a while since Bernicia had gone to war. And Camelot was still quite weak from Morgana's antics the year before. Who could resist such a prize?

"Soon my son, you will be avenged. One way or another." Odin growled, thinking hatefully of his son's killer.

XX

"You need to learn how to cover your left flank. Go again." Percival said, smiling at Merlin as he came out into the training ground two weeks later, ever so slightly late (Morgana had ambushed him from another alcove and it had taken them a while to get away from each other).

Merlin looked out at the field to see who was going at it. While there had been many knights to originally seek to become members of the vaunted Round Table, Percival had weeded the less worthy and less able out, leaving him with only a group of ten left to practice with, and even then, few of them would become knights of the round table.

Currently going at it was Sir Lucan, a village boy who had volunteered to join Arthur in retaking Camelot the last time. Young, brash and overconfident, his hair hung to his shoulders, a straw blond colour. Well built, he was one of the nimblest of the knights who was left, and Merlin was quite sure he would make the final cut. Merlin had sought out several conversations with him in the last two weeks and found him likable, easy going and friendly. And when Merlin had, rather expertly in his own humble opinion, poked at his reasons and his past, he had been more than willing to cooperate with Merlin's questioning and Merlin suspected he was quite trustworthy.

However, while Lucan had been more than willing to cooperate with Merlin's questioning, others had not. Sir Dagonet had been polite and courteous to him when he had been asking him the questions, but there was something in his eyes that Merlin just didn't like. However that could just be shyness. A stout man, he was broad shouldered and burly, his arm and leg muscles thick. He had only a little hair, it having receded at a young age, leaving him with a mostly bald head and a smattering of black stubble. His most curious feature was that he had two different coloured eyes, one a bright piercing green (which Merlin didn't think was nearly as nice as the beautiful shade of green Morgana's were) and the other a light, frosty blue. But while Dagonet was shy, Merlin did suspect he was quite decent, and had had little trouble with him.

Which was more than could be said for the other two knights that Merlin suspected would actually get to join the round table. Sir Safer was the least trouble out of the other two, he supposed. Safer was perfectly polite and respectful to Percival, he just wasn't to Merlin, treating him like he was a creature with no intelligence, looking down his nose at him and continually ignored his questions, despite Percival telling him to answer him. He was the younger brother of Sir Pellinore, the knight who had been killed by the resurrected Tristan du Bois, who Nimueh had resurrected to try and kill Arthur. Around medium height, he had darkened skin, though not as dark as Elyan, and dark eyes. He had a scar on the back of his bald head, where his brother had apparently dropped him while he was a baby. Merlin had told Arthur of his concerns about Safer not answering any of the questions he put to him, and Arthur had nodded, and had promised to make sure to ask him the questions Merlin had been asking the others while he was present so he could evaluate him like the others.

However, while Safer was rude and dismissive to Merlin, Alymere was even worse. He was the son of one of the nobles, and hence believed that he shouldn't be made to answer to Merlin in any way, shape or form. He was also rude to Percival and the vast majority of the other knights of the round table, believing they had no business being knights as they were not of noble birth. Merlin, frustrated that he couldn't get the man to answer any of the questions, had told Arthur in a fit of annoyance that Alymere would have made a perfect knight for Uther. Arthur, needless to say, hadn't been amused, but Gwen had had to leave the room to stop herself giggling. He was a tall man, with a red beard and red hair, along with cold blue eyes. Merlin didn't particularly like him, but he couldn't get a decent read on him either.

"Merlin!" Arthur called from behind him, and he rolled his eyes at Percival.

"Don't worry, they're getting a long work out today, they'll still be here when you get back." He assured him with a grin and he went off to answer Arthur.

"Why are you so happy nowadays?" Gwen asked with a smile as she and Morgana walked through the training grounds, bound for the front entrance, and also to run a critical eye over the knights Percival was training, and Gwen had to check herself from yelling at Alymere to stop being totally foul to a servant who had served Lucan a drink before him.

"You know, Merlin's right, we can't win around here. Either we're too happy or we're too sad. What don't I have to be happy about? I have my friends and family back, I'm back home, I have no inclinations to murder Arthur, well not any more than the usual ones I get but that's just because he's him, everyone is being polite to me again, my powers are growing, no one is trying to destroy Camelot and best of all I'm not getting auctioned off to the first suitor who comes along."

And that wasn't to mention the guy she was illicitly seeing behind everyone's back, but she had to admit, sneaking around did add a certain bit of fun to it all.

"Still, you're almost glowing with happiness. It's weird." Gwen said teasingly and Morgana rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me my ladies, might you direct me to the king?" a man asked coming up to them, and Morgan's eyes widened in surprise and a wide grin split her face.

"Gareth!" she demanded in delighted shock.

The man in question was tall, with short brown hair and a trimmed beard. He was well built and muscular, fully armoured, and when he saw Morgana his face split into a wide grin.

"Morgana? Oh it's so good to see you!" he cried, hugging her tightly and spinning her around in delight.

Gwen looked at the two slightly bemused. Not that she minded Morgana having a friend. After all, it had taken them a while to repair their relationship and she was glad Morgana had someone else to talk to other than her, despite the fact that they were now best friends again. And after all, even with her duel with Madvedor two weeks ago, people were still a little squirrelly around her, so it might be good for her to have another friend. But still, she couldn't help but be slightly irritated. After all, wasn't she the queen?

Gareth finally put Morgana down, and bowed apologetically to Gwen.

"My apologies your majesty." He said sheepishly, and Gwen smiled a little.

"That's alright. Sir Gareth I presume?" she asked, extending her hand and he kissed it gallantly before standing to face her.

"Gwen, Gareth is an old friend of Arthur and I's, he used to spend a lot of time in Camelot as a child. But what are you doing here?" Morgana asked him curiously and he rolled his eyes.

"Oh, what else? My dear brother has had enough of him, so he has sent me here as his official liaison with Camelot." Gareth said, once more bowing to Gwen.

Morgana recalled Gareth's brother well. Gareth was the younger and considerably nicer of the two siblings. His elder brother, Garwant, was an arrogant little toad who had been the apple of his father's eye, bred to take over his lands in his stead. Arrogant, conceited and smug, he had annoyed the hell out of Morgana and Arthur when they had been younger, in fact at the time it had been one of the few things the two of them could agree upon. Garwant had been so unpleasant and haughty that even Uther hadn't liked him that much, which was saying a lot. He had made life hell for his younger brother, jealous that Gareth always made friends

"Oh, that delight. Got fed up of you did he?" Morgana asked, and Gareth grinned.

"Yeah, he was fed up of people asking the council leader what they should do instead of the king so here I am, if Arthur will have me that is. Where is the filthy traitor anyway?" Gareth asked eagerly, and Gwen arched an eyebrow at him in interest.

"Filthy traitor?" she asked curiously and Gareth and Morgana grinned at each other.

"Oh Arthur is going to love this." Gareth said grinning wickedly.

"There you are Merlin." Arthur scolded slightly as Merlin trotted up beside him.

"Here I am. I was watching the knights like you wanted me to." He explained and Arthur nodded.

"Well I want your advice on something. You're girly, what sort of things do you get girls who are your sisters, who also happen to be incredibly powerful sorceresses and until recently wanted to kill you?" he asked curiously, and Merlin went paler than usual all of a sudden.

"Why would you think I would know what you could get Morgana?" he asked quickly, and Arthur cocked his head to the side and looked at Merlin curiously.

"Are you alright? Look I'm not winding you up about how you feel about her or anything, I'm just asking your opinion, she really liked what you got her for Christmas." He explained and Merlin relaxed, his heart rate slowing down a little, his fear of discovery of what he was up to with Morgana retreating slightly.

"Hmm, I don't know. Don't get her a dagger, last time you got her one she tried to kill your father with it," he said carelessly and Arthur looked at him in shock, "I don't suppose you'll get her anything magical from the vaults either, so that leaves you with jewellery or ornaments or dresses or stuff like that." Merlin reasoned, his own mind wandering.

After all, it was Morgana's birthday in a couple of weeks, and considering they were seeing other, he wanted to get her something special, but what could he get her, the woman he loved, and also the only person in Camelot who truly knew him aside from Gaius.

"Hmm, I suppose so. Wow, she looks happy." Arthur commented, and Merlin was jerked from his reverie by the sight of someone hugging and twirling Morgana in delight.

"Who's he? Old boyfriend?" Merlin asked, sounding quite respectful for a change, which was an immediate indicator to Arthur that his friend was annoyed by yet someone else coming to see Morgana.

"No, after the thing with Madvedor I stopped the suitors for a while remember? It's a bit hard to try and get her married when she kills a potential suitor even if he was a clodpole." Arthur said, before he could stop himself.

Merlin turned to him a cocky delighted grin on his face.

"You just said clodpole." He said in a sing song voice, though he kept an eye on the man now talking to Morgana and Gwen.

"Great, I've clearly had you too long, I need a new servant who doesn't insult me with made up words, now even I'm using them. Who is that anyway?" Arthur asked, his eyes narrowed as he saw the newcomer kiss Gwen's hand.

"You couldn't last a day without me. And I don't know, I asked you first." Merlin said, though he was a little relieved that Arthur hadn't heard his first comment.

"Hang on..." Arthur said happily, a smile forming on his face as he strode forwards.

"Gareth?" he demanded in delight, and the man in question turned to face him with a delighted smile.

"There you are you filthy traitor! Oh it's good to see you!" Gareth said, shaking Arthur's hand and then enveloping him in a one armed hug.

"You too! What are you doing here?" Arthur asked, and in response Gareth handed him a sealed envelope.

"My brother is sick of me, so wants me out of his hair, forever if at all possible." Gareth explained with a smile.

"Oh is he still being a cabbage head?" Arthur asked once more without thinking and then realised what he had said when Gareth looked at him in confusion and Merlin, Morgana and Gwen smiling wickedly at him.

"I didn't just say that did I?" he whined and Merlin nodded.

"Yeah you did. I'm Merlin by the way." Merlin said, extending a hand to Gareth, who after looking a little shocked that a servant was introducing himself, shook it.

"Nice to meet you Merlin. Are you Arthur's?" he asked interestedly.

Merlin looked at Arthur, who just rolled his eyes. He also caught Morgana's slightly grumpy expression and grinned slightly.

"Yes sadly, I'm Arthur's manservant." He said, and Gareth laughed.

"My sympathies." Gareth said with a smile.

"Well I don't see anything wrong with this. You're welcome to stay as long as you want. Actually, if you're interested, Sir Percival is currently training new knights and will be all day. I'm sure he will be more than delighted to have your help." Arthur said, taking Gwen's hand.

"I might just do that." Gareth said, and Arthur turned to Merlin.

"Merlin, I want you to help Gareth with his things. Move him into one of the spare rooms, then if he wants take him to the training field with the others. If he's sticking around a while we may as well make the most of him." Arthur said.

"But I thought..." Merlin said, looking at Morgana, which as she was distracted by the sound of a horse neighing, she didn't notice. He also saw the look of horror on her face at the sound and resolved to ask her about it later.

"I'll go with Gwen. I think she'll be more helpful than you. Now help Gareth with his things." Arthur ordered, and then saw the pointed glares he was receiving from his wife and sister and added, "please."

"Yes sire." Merlin said, a little bitterly at being just blown off like that, and gestured for Gareth to follow him which he did, looking confused, and Merlin then flounced off and didn't spare his rude master a second glance.

"Would it kill you to be polite to him for a change? He doesn't have to wait on your every whim you know." Morgana said tartly, jumped slightly at the noise another horse made and she swept off to watch the knights.

"Don't look at me for support either. Come on, I assume you want to see if we can find something for Morgana." Gwen said, watching in interest as she saw Morgana stop to watch Merlin and Gareth entering the castle.

XX

"Merlin, have I done something to annoy you?" Gareth asked worriedly as they entered the room Merlin decided to give him, which just coincidentally happened to be quite far from Morgana's.

Merlin looked at the knight, and decided he was being a little unfair by being grumpy with the new knight. So what if he knew Morgana?

"No my lord, its just Arthur being an inconsiderate prat as always." Merlin said with a slight smile and Gareth chuckled, helping Merlin carry the last of his things into his room.

"Glad to see some things haven't changed. How long have you been his servant?" Gareth asked in interest, and Merlin actually found himself relaxing with this new knight.

"Nearly seven years." Merlin said slightly proudly, and Gareth looked at him, impressed.

"I remember a time when it was considered good that Arthur had a servant who lasted seven days. Seven years is quite the period. Does he always treat you so rudely?" Gareth asked in concern, and Merlin smiled a little.

"No, he just likes to show off. The advantages of having one of your best friends become queen are that she usually tells him off when he's rude." Merlin said.

Gareth clapped Merlin on the shoulder and gave him a wicked grin.

"Well, if Gwen isn't around to keep him in check, having spent nearly all my summers here as a child before my father in his wisdom decided to start training my brother to succeed him, which meant I had to stay at home too to 'honour my brother and liege', as my rat faced brother likes to put it, I collected a fair few stories to use against your good king." Gareth said with a wink.

"Really? Like what?" Merlin asked innocently, his cocky smile broadening.

Gareth smiled and gestured for Merlin to take a seat.

"Well let me tell you about a lord's daughter by the name of Lorana..."

XX

Merlin took Gareth down to the training field. Gareth had his own set of armour, his cloak was a bottle green, a bit darker than the shade of Morgana's eyes, and he carried himself proudly. Merlin found himself growing to like Gareth. The man was amiable and funny, easy to get on with. And the little flicker of jealousy about his connection with Morgana was hardly existent.

"Percival, this is Gareth, an old friend of Arthur's." Merlin said as they approached the training field where Morgana was talking to Lucan animatedly.

"Nice to meet you." Percival said, and Gareth looked at where Alymere was fending off Dagonet and Safer at the same time.

"He annoy you again?" Merlin asked, nodding towards Alymere, and Percival smiled slightly.

"Seems to think that he's above being the target for any knight bar Arthur and Leon, so I got them all to gang up on them, and let Lucan chat to Morgana, he's been on the go all morning." Percival said as Alymere struggled to hold off Safer.

"Perhaps you and I could give them a break. Care for a whirl?" Gareth asked the taller knight, and Percival nodded.

"Alright, you're on."

The two of them headed to the middle of the field and chased the others off, earning Percival a disgusted look from Alymere as they did so. The two of them faced off at each other and Merlin went to stand with the others knights and Morgana.

"He used to be able to match me when we duelled as kids." Morgana commented, watching as the two bowed to each other.

"That isn't saying much though is it?" Alymere muttered, just loud enough for Merlin to hear.

"For your information Alymere, Morgana is one of the best swordsmen in the city, she can outduel the king, and that means she is only one of two people who have ever managed to do that. And you might want to remember that she's a princess as well." Merlin snapped, and Morgana smiled at him indulgently.

Safer turned to glare at Merlin while Alymere looked at him in indignation.

"You dare treat a knight with such little respect? Who do you think you are?" he asked, raising a hand as if to strike Merlin...but then he helped and Merlin could hear the bones crackling together in his hand, and smiled at the golden eyed Morgana.

"I would not do that if I were you Safer. First of all, I will shatter your hand in such a way that you will never be able to use it again. Secondly, he was merely pointing out that speaking disparagingly of the princess is an unwise career move, especially when said princess is a witch. And thirdly, I'm sure you know what the king will do to you if you bring harm to Merlin." Morgana warned, and Safer lowered his hand, cowed.

"So he used to spend all his time here?" Lucan asked Morgana curiously as the two drew their swords and advanced steadily towards each other.

"Yes, his father would bring him and his brat of a brother here each year for the summer, he and Arthur used to be quite the double act. That was until Arthur betrayed Gareth." She recounted in amusement, as Gareth blocked Percival's lunge.

"Betrayed him? He didn't seem that bothered by him." Merlin said, wincing as Gareth was knocked for six by the strength of Percival's swing.

Morgana smiled.

"Not betrayed like that, Arthur just left Gareth out to dry the dirty rat. You see, the two of them were about fifteen, and they quite liked to swing their swords around," she explained, ignoring Dagonet's snort, "and were practicing one day when they were both called to the council chamber. But, Arthur didn't hear the guy coming and when he tapped him on the shoulder, Arthur jumped, and swung his sword. The result was, the poor boy's ear almost came off." She said darkly, and Alymere looked at her with a bored expression while Gareth kicked Percival in the gut.

"He cut a servant's ear off?" he asked in an unconcerned voice.

"No, but it was hanging by a thread. So the two of them quickly took him to Gaius, and he patched the poor boy up. Now late for the meeting, they headed to the council chamber, but not before our teenage king paid the servant off to keep quiet." She explained, and Merlin looked at her in surprise.

"Arthur paid him off? That doesn't sound like him." He said, and ignored the looks of contempt he was getting from Safer and Alymere.

"It isn't usually. But Arthur was already in a lot of trouble with darling Uther." She said irritably, and Alymere rolled his eyes.

"Uther was a great king." He said stoutly.

"No he wasn't, he was a bastard and everyone knows it." Gwaine said as he arrived, cutting Merlin off before he said much the same thing.

Morgana shot a filthy look at Alymere and continued her story, while Gareth and Percival danced around each other, looking for an opening.

"A few weeks before Arthur had gotten rather, boisterous, shall we say when trying to impress a certain lady," she explained and Merlin grinned, as that had been what Gareth had told him, "and her father had found out and complained to Uther. So, Uther summoned Arthur in front of the court and mocked him for falling for the girl. Arthur was horribly embarrassed, the entire court, the visitors and even the servants laughing at him just because he had the hots for a girl. Arthur refused to apologise and basically implied that our dear father could shove it, and stormed out, which sort of cast a pall on the rest of the week's meetings with the lord at the time, and made Uther furious for the lack of respect Arthur had shown for the visitors and for him. As such, he warned him that if he wished to participate in the tournament that was coming up he had better not get into any more trouble, which leads us back to the servant."

Merlin was watching Morgana's face as she described what Uther had done, and he remembered when Uther had laughed when Arthur had told him that he was in love with Gwen. Gareth had also told him what Arthur had really intended to say to his enlightened father, and Merlin had had to hide a grin. He'd have been very proud of his master if he had.

"Anyway, the two of them are summoned in front of Uther, and Arthur sees that his father isn't exactly pleased with the way things were going and immediately cracks, and tells Uther it was Gareth who nearly chopped the poor lad's ear off. Gareth is hopping mad of course, and Uther finds it highly amusing and Gareth's father confines him to his room the next day. Turns out Uther was annoyed because Godwyn had reneged on a deal and Arthur just panicked. He left poor Gareth out to dry for no reason at all, but they made up in no time." She assured them all as they all laughed.

Out on the field, Gareth and Percival slammed their blades together with such force they jerked them out of each other's hands, and stood, panting, looking at each respectfully.

"You fight well." Percival said, and Gareth grinned.

"You're not so bad yourself. I look forward to working with you." He said, shaking Percival's hand.

"So you're sticking around then?" Morgana asked, as Merlin passed the water bottle to Gareth.

"Well my dear brother doesn't want me hanging around, and let's face it, I can do a lot more good here than I can at home." He said, passing the bottle to Percival.

"You know I'm training a bunch of new knights for the round table, if you want you could join with them, I'm sure Arthur wouldn't mind." Percival suggested, having taken a liking to the newcomer.

"I'd be honoured." Gareth said, and Percival then looked at Merlin.

"If you do so, you will have to answer the questions Merlin puts to you, he's been appointed by the king to see if you're the stuff he's looking for." Percival explained, glowering at Alymere and Safer who were rolling their eyes.

"Of course. Well, I'll go and get settled in. Merlin, come by any time, my door will always be open to you." Gareth said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Gareth, you can walk me back to my rooms if you want." Morgana said, and Gareth bowed his head, and offered her his arm, before the two of them walked off.

Percival looked at the expression on Merlin's face curiously. He had been smiling and friendly looking with Gareth a second ago, but now he was glaring daggers into his back. Percival smirked. Looked like the poor kid still had the hots for Morgana. Smiling, he watched as Merlin mutinously followed Morgana inside.

XX

"What is wrong with you tonight?" Arthur asked, sounding mildly annoyed but also a little bit concerned.

Merlin glowered as he tidied Arthur's desk, ignoring the king sat on the bed while Gwen sang to herself while she did her embroidery in the next room.

"Nothing's wrong." Merlin said sourly.

And that was exactly the problem. He hadn't seen Morgana all day, she had spent it all reminiscing and catching up with Gareth. However, he had still made time to answer all of Merlin's questions, and Merlin had found him even more likeable than he had before, and reported to Arthur that he had passed with flying colours. He was quite friendly with Merlin, talking to him about his adventures with Arthur and getting to know him. In fact, Merlin was sure they could have been very fast friends, if it wasn't for the fact that he had spent the entire day on Morgana's arm. He knew he was being petty and jealous, but he couldn't help but resent the fact that Gareth had an entire history with Morgana that he could only guess at, and that ever since he had arrived this morning Morgana had next to ignored him.

Arthur rolled his eyes. Merlin had seemed perfectly cheerful this morning, more cheerful than usual, but, as soon as Gareth had appeared his mood had taken a turn for the worst. And then, it hit Arthur and he sighed.

"Merlin, I'm sorry." He said, figuring his friend was annoyed with him due to his rude dismissal of him earlier.

That made Merlin turn around curiously, and he looked at Arthur as though he were mad.

"What for?" he asked obliviously.

"For the way I dismissed you this morning, it was rude, and I'm sorry." Arthur said, and he actually did sound a little sincere.

Merlin smiled a little.

"It wasn't anything to do with you." He assured him, and turned back to tidying the desk, and Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Then...oh!" Arthur said, and Merlin froze a little.

Despite all the names he and Morgana and now Gareth called Arthur, he was occasionally capable of having a clever thought.

"It's Gareth who's annoyed you isn't it?" Arthur said in a teasing voice.

"No." Merlin said a little too quickly, and Arthur rolled his eyes, just as someone knocked at the door.

"Come!" Arthur yelled, watching as Merlin determinedly avoided his gaze.

Gwaine entered, looking slightly alert.

"We had an intruder on one of the ramparts, problem is he escaped before we could do anything about him." He said worriedly, and Arthur exchanged a dark look with Merlin.

"What were they doing?" Merlin asked worriedly.

"That's the weird thing, they were trying to sneak out of the castle. Alymere chased him but he got away." Gwaine reported, and Arthur frowned.

"I suppose it isn't so bad if they were running out of the castle, depending on what they were running away with. Double the guard, and tell Leon to take over the watch. I have another job for you." Arthur said, and both Merlin and Gwaine looked at him curiously.

"Sounds interesting. It isn't to help Percival with the noobies is it?" Gwaine asked, his face crestfallen, and Arthur smiled.

"No. The job I am giving you is one you will love to perform. I want you to go to the tavern." Arthur said, and Merlin's jaw dropped as he looked at his master. Actively encouraging Gwaine to go to the tavern was a recipe for disaster.

"Best job I've ever had, but why?" Gwaine asked, looking at Arthur suspiciously.

"I want you to take Merlin with you, and get him a girl. Maybe then he'll stop moping." Arthur said with a wicked grin, and Merlin glared at him furiously.

"I am not moping, and I don't want to go to the tavern!" he protested, and Gwaine laughed.

"Ah Merlin, you need educated in the ways of the world. Not to worry my fine friend, I'll teach you everything I know. Come on then!" Gwaine said, putting his arm around Merlin's shoulders and leading him towards the door.

Merlin turned around to Arthur, his face a mixture of fear and annoyance, and mouthed 'I hate you' at him, making him grin all the wider.

Arthur smiled as he watched Gwaine lead Merlin to the door, but a small voice inside him alerted him to something as he remembered what happened the last time Merlin had been out after hours.

"Gwaine!" Arthur called, and he turned round, forcing Merlin to do the same.

"Keep an eye on him would you? And, take a couple of the others with you." He ordered, and Gwaine rolled his eyes.

"I'm hardly going to let anything happen to Merlin. I'll look after him." He scolded, and Merlin grinned a little.

"I don't doubt that. I'm just worried about how difficult it will be for poor Merlin to get your drunken hide back up to the castle once the tavern closes." Arthur said cockily, and Gwaine shot him a sour look while Merlin laughed and led him out of the room.

XX

Morgana frowned. She hadn't seen Merlin all afternoon, since she had been spending it with Gareth, and now, she couldn't find him anywhere. Figuring the only place he could still be would be Arthur's room, she made her way towards her brother's room, hoping to find her man on his way home, and perhaps persuade him to come to her room for a bit.

She then heard Gwaine's boisterous voice calling down the corridor.

"Elyan! Gareth! Percival! What do you say to coming down to the tavern? We're going to get Merlin a girl!" he announced, and Morgana froze.

"What?" Elyan asked incredulously.

"Don't look at me, blame your brother in law, it was his bright idea." Merlin muttered, and Percival laughed.

"Oh, this I have to see." He said, and Morgana darted into an alcove, watching as the four chuckling knights and the pale form of Merlin went past.

She stood there, seething, but at who she didn't quite know. Watching as Gwaine and the others disappeared with Merlin in tow, she turned on her feel, her dress billowing behind her as she headed back to her rooms.

**This is the second time I've had to write this blurb! Screw you internet explorer!**

**Anyway, we are now on to our third Merlin story! I was originally going to leave it all to the end and upload them all at once like last time, but I got to the end of this section and it seemed right to upload so here we are!**

**I know a lot doesnt happen in this chapter but it was mainly intended as an introduction for the new knights and to show that our enemies are getting more dangerous and deadly in their efforts to destroy Camelot.**

**How will Merlin and Morgana manage their relationship? Who is working for Nimueh within Camelot? What will transpire from this boys night out Arthur has sent Merlin on? Will the Hassassin succeed in his mission? What else will transpire now that Nimueh is moving ahead in her plan to destroy Camelot?**

**Answers will hopefully come soon as I'm now on holiday, but until these questions are answered, please review review review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin**

A Camelot Calamity

The Hassassin entered Camelot with the last load of visitors just before the gates closed for the night. Now, all he had to do was wait, and when Arthur made a single mistake, he would kill him.

XX

"I don't undershtand Merlin. She was young, hic, she was preddy, and she clearly, hic, liked you. What wash wrong with her?" Gwaine slurred drunkenly on the way back up to the castle.

"I know she was pretty, and I know she liked me. But that doesn't mean I'm going to jump in the sack with her just because I like her." Merlin said mildly while he counted his winnings.

After it had become clear that he wasn't interested in any of the girls in the tavern, Percival had suggested that they play cards. While he had lost the first two rounds, he had soon got the hang of it, and was now considerably richer, having cleaned Gwaine and Elyan out of their week's pay.

"Maybe it was all a cunning ruse, put us off our guard so you can trash our wallets." Elyan said suspiciously and Merlin laughed.

"Yeah. Are you sure you haven't played before? You cleaned Gwaine and Elyan out, and took half my pay, and you dented Gareth's earnings too." Percival said as they headed for the gatehouse, suddenly walking closer to Merlin.

Merlin gave him a curious look until it dawned on him why he was sticking so close. After all this was where he had been stabbed.

"He's a natural. Um, does Gwaine usually get like this?" Gareth asked as Elyan had to steer the drunken knight away from a trough of water belonging to some pigs.

"You kidding? This is tame for him." Elyan said as Gwaine started swaying to music only he could hear.

"Oh dear." Gareth said, watching with a grin as Gwaine tripped and had it not been for Percival and Merlin grabbing him, he would have taken Elyan down with him.

"But sheriously, what was wrong with her Merlin?" Gwaine cried loudly, making Merlin roll his eyes.

"Maybe the rumours are true..." Percival mused, and Merlin stopped suddenly, looking at him in alarm.

"What rumours?" he demanded, wondering how anyone could know about him and Morgana.

Percival grinned.

"I'm sure there's nothing to them Merlin. But kings are known to have, shall we say, eclectic tastes." He said with a wicked grin.

Merlin looked at him curiously, until it suddenly dawned on him just what he was implying.

"What? NO! Hell no. Besides, I thought you knew me, you could credit me with better taste than that." Merlin scolded, slapping Percival's arm, which he regretted, after all, the hulking knight was a lot more muscular than he was.

The knights, aside from Gwane, all laughed, while all he did was hiccough.

"Or maybe there already is a special someone in Merlin's life?" Gareth asked, and Merlin stopped again, turning to Gareth in alarm.

"No there isn't." Merlin said with dignity, and Gareth smiled.

"I believe you." He said with a wink, and Merlin felt a squirm of uneasiness in his stomach.

"Well regardless of Merlin's lack of girlfriend, and if Arthur tells you off for not getting one you're on your own by the way, it was a good night." Percival said.

"Yeah, aside from for our coffers." Elyan said grimly and they all laughed again.

"Perhaps we should make cards night a regular thing. And don't worry Merlin, wooing a young girl is completely optional." Gareth said with a grin.

"Wait, you want me to join you?" Merlin asked the newest knight.

"Obviously. What, just because you're a servant we don't invite you?" Gareth asked in confusion.

A feeling which was further exacerbated by Percival, Elyan and Merlin all avoiding each other's eyes.

Unfortunately for them Gareth was filled in by a drunken outcry from Gwaine.

"No, it's because we were all ignorant, insensitive louts to Merlin, because of a lamia!" he called as they climbed the stairs, and he tripped and promptly fell out of Elyan's arms and fell face first onto the stairs.

"Ow." He said, and a second later a loud snore disturbed the corridor.

"I see." Gareth said musingly, while Gwaine snored.

"But we're over that now, we try and include him as much as we can. Besides, even if we didn't want to its not as if we'd have any choice, Arthur's very protective of him." Percival said, suddenly wanting to justify himself to the new knight.

"Good. So shall we say my rooms, same time next week?" he asked cheerfully, and they all nodded.

"I might have problems with Arthur though." Merlin said.

"More so than usual you mean?" Gareth asked, and Merlin sniggered.

"Yeah."

"Well we'll invite him too, then he can't stop you." Gareth said, and Merlin again reflected on the knight.

Yeah, he was jealous of his relationship with Morgana and the fact that she spent nearly all day with him, but he also couldn't help but like the newest knight. Strange.

"Thanks." He said with a grin, and laughed as he watched Elyan try to pull Gwaine up, to no avail.

"Can't we just leave him here?" he asked tiredly, pointing to the comatose knight.

"Knowing our luck someone will trip over him and we'll get the blame." Percival lamented.

"Want me to take him?" Merlin asked, but Percival shook his head.

"Nah its alright buddy, there's no point in you going all the way up to take his drunkness home and then coming all the way back down to go to bed. We'll deal with him." He assured him.

"Are you sure we can't just leave him here?" Elyan whined.

"That would be improper I'm afraid. But, doesn't meant we can't have a little fun." Gareth said with a wicked grin, using his foot to roll Gwaine onto his back.

"Drag him?" Elyan asked in delight.

"May as well, why should we put our backs out because he's a lush? Look at Merlin, he had three ales and stopped." Gareth said, inclining his head in respect.

"Don't be under any false illusions. We've seen him drunk." Elyan said with a grin, and Merlin shot him a dirty look.

"That's because I foolishly entrusted you to put my water bottle on my horse and Gwaine's mead bottle on his horse and you got them mixed up. I thought it tasted funny. Next thing I know I'm singing songs." He growled and Gareth and Percival laughed.

"He was completely wasted. Told Arthur he was a cabbage pole." Percival said, making them all snigger.

"Alright, let's get him up the stairs." Gareth said in finality, taking one arm while Percival took the other.

"He's going to be mad with you guys in the morning." Merlin warned cheerfully.

"Oh, its not us you need to worry about." Elyan said, clapping Merlin's shoulder.

"What do you mean?" he asked, and Elyan smiled.

"Imagine how annoyed he'll be when he finds out it's your fault he can't go to the tavern for another week." Elyan said, and the knights laughed, leaving Merlin sniggering in the corridor.

XX

The morning dawned bright and early, the sun streaming into the windows of the castle. However, all was not well with the denizens of the castle.

Arthur and Gwen had a council meeting, which always tended to make them grumpy and usually meant they were short with Merlin when he came to tend to the two of them in the morning. The fact that Arthur had convinced Morgana to also sit in on the meeting this morning meant that she also was in a rather bad mood, and had totally ignored Merlin when he had seen her, leaving him confused and resentful. The fact that she was attending the meeting had slipped out, and now Carrigan was also going around in an absolutely foul temper, scaring a young serving girl into hysterics when she brought him cream instead of milk for his morning cocoa. Gwaine was also rather grumpy, he had a splitting headache, and according to the note Elyan had left him, Merlin had totally trounced him at cards and had cleared out his savings for the week. Alymere and Safer were grumpy as usual, and Gaius was also grumpy, as Merlin had been meant to clean the floors the night before and as he had gone to the tavern, hadn't done it.

As a result, Merlin was also not in the best of moods. Dealing with Arthur in the morning was bad enough, but when he was in a grouchy mood, and when his wife was the same it felt like he was walking on eggshells and that nothing he did for them was good enough. Also, being totally blanked by the woman he was in love with hadn't improved his mood any, and the shouting match he had had that morning with Gaius had just made things worse. He had been angry that Merlin hadn't cleaned the floor like he was supposed to, and Merlin had lost it. Between dealing with Arthur and Gwen, looking after the knights, helping Percival, Morgana, protecting Camelot, studying his magic on his own and helping Gaius out, he never really had time to do anything other than eat and sleep. It wasn't that he was opposed to helping Gaius, far from it, but he thought it was a bit much him having a go at Merlin for having a night off, one he had had very little say in the matter of anyway. Due to him not having cleaned the floors, Gaius had started yelling, accusing him of wasting time with his friends when he ought to be doing his chores, and Merlin had lost it, saying that with everything he had to do it was a wonder he even had time to think about other things, and that if he didn't find some way to have a tiny little bit of time to himself, he was going to lose it completely, and he had stormed out of the room before Gaius could say anything else.

The goodwill in the castle was low that morning, and Merlin thudded down goblets in front of a stony faced Arthur, Gwen and Morgana as the entire council traipsed in, Carrigan's eyes narrowed at the sight of Morgana, who still hadn't even acknowledged Merlin.

The meeting dragged on, with Carrigan barely keeping a respectful tone in his voice towards Morgana, who seemed to delight in making him speak to her directly. It transpired that she actually knew a fair bit about the inner workings of the kingdom, and was also better informed than even Arthur and Gwen about things that were going on. And she also didn't tolerate any of Carrigan's posturing, and quickly dismissed any ideas he might have, especially when they seemed to increase his own earnings considerably.

An hour later, the council left, Carrigan storming out, and Arthur and Gwen's bad moods were mostly gone.

"Morgana, you're amazing, thanks." Arthur said cheerfully, watching as his sister watched Carrigan's retreating back distastefully.

"You're welcome." She said, still glowering at the obnoxious lord's back.

"Does this mean that you three will start behaving like mild mannered human beings again rather than bad tempered boars?" Merlin asked resentfully, and Gwen blushed a little.

"Yeah, sorry Merlin. I know we're a pain on the days we have a council meeting." She said sheepishly.

"Bad tempered boar? You never get close enough to a boar, you don't like it when I go hunting, you don't like me killing the cute little animals." Arthur teased, back to his normal self.

"Yeah well I hardly think its sport hunting animals that can't fight back. At least when you do tournaments or jousting you have a chance of getting knocked on your backside." Merlin grumbled, and Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"You're extolling the virtues of jousting now? You always said I was a prat for competing."

"I second that." Gwen said mildly, earning her a tight grin from Merlin.

"I don't like either of them, at least in a joust the opponents have a fair chance." Merlin said irritably, and Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"Maybe I don't have a miraculous turnaround like you do." Merlin said, before taking a tray of empty goblets out of the room.

"What's his problem now?" Arthur asked irritably, slightly stung by the accusation that he was fickle with his moods, and on a council day that accusation was more true than he would like to admit.

"Rumour has it he had a fight with Gaius this morning. Morgana, go and talk to him." Gwen said, picking up her things.

"What, why?" she asked, coming out of her reverie, and Gwen noticed that Morgana, quite uncharacteristically recently, didn't seem to want to see Merlin.

"Because I have to go on a tour of the town, and Arthur wants to go hunting. Besides, he dealt with Merlin last time, it's your turn." She said, eyes boring into her sisters with the message clearly being '_talk to him_'.

"How did you know I wanted to go hunting?" Arthur asked, not listening to their conversation, and Gwen smiled.

"For a start, your eyes lit up when Merlin mentioned it, secondly, it will annoy Merlin and thirdly, I'm your wife it's my job to know." She said, and kissed him on the cheek before giving Morgana a pointed glance after which she left the chamber.

Morgana sighed mutinously. She strongly considered ignoring what Gwen had said and not go and find Merlin. After all, he says he loves her, sleeps with her and then goes out to try and find a woman in the town. Why should she care about him?

But deep down, she knew that wasn't the sort of person Merlin was. He was too kind and sweet to do anything like that. So what was she missing? And besides, he did seem fairly down, and even if he didn't want to be with her (though she desperately wanted him to want that), even then she would still want to be friends, and friends looked out for each other. Shrugging her shoulders, she swept out of the room to go and find her man.

XX

Carrigan was furious as he entered his rooms. So now the witch of Camelot was also sitting in on the council meetings was she? That was just intolerable. Uther would never have allowed it, and Carrigan sure as hell wouldn't allow Arthur or anyone else to let the witch into the inner workings of the kingdom. Camelot was declining, and it was all the fault of their new king. Say what you want about Uther, he knew how to rule in such a way that everything kept spinning, and that no one got ideas above their station.

He couldn't allow Camelot to be destroyed. Sitting down at his desk, he began to draft a letter.

XX

Morgana finally found Merlin on top of the ramparts, looking angrily out at the city.

"Merlin?" she asked, and he turned and glowered at her.

"Oh, you're talking to me now? Have I paid penance for whatever it is I've done?" he asked bitterly, and she narrowed her green eyes angrily.

"Don't take that tone with me Merlin. It wasn't me who went out to try and pick up girls in the tavern." She said waspishly.

Merlin looked at her, astounded for a second, then burst into laughter, leaving Morgana feeling very wrong footed. If most boyfriends were caught out in such a situation, laughing was hardly the right response. Merlin stopped laughing and grinned up at her, and Morgana couldn't help but smile a little when he did so. He was cute when he smiled.

"Is that why you've been giving me the cold shoulder all morning?" he asked, looking a lot cheerier than he had earlier all of a sudden.

"Well...yes! I overheard you and the knights going out last night to try and get you a girl." She grumbled and Merlin laughed again.

"Honey, I wouldn't do that to you. I'm in love with you remember? And I don't want to lose that for anyone. And besides, there's also a certain bit of self preservation as you're the only one in the city other than Gaius who knows I'm a sorcerer, so I ever betray you, you can drop me in it. Last night was your brother's idea. I didn't want to go. There was a girl who liked me but I was totally uninterested. We just stayed out and played cards, hence why Gwaine is so grumpy because I cleaned him out." He said proudly, and Morgana blushed.

"So you weren't out hitting on girls?" she asked sheepishly, and he shook his head.

"Of course I wasn't. I'm in love with you remember?" he asked softly, and kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry. Was it because I was ignoring you that you were so bad tempered?" she asked softly, stroking his cheek and he scowled a little.

"Partly, you've ignored me since training yesterday. I mean we can go about our business, we don't need to be attached at the hip but blanking me completely might arouse suspicion remember?" he growled, and she flushed in embarrassment.

"Yeah sorry, I lost track of things when I was catching up with Gareth, and when I went to find you, you were being whisked off to the tavern on the orders of my idiot brother." She said reluctantly, and he rolled his eyes in amusement.

"Forget it ok. And yeah, I was a bit pissed off this morning. Servants are allowed to be grumpy too you know, on a council day. In fact, we have more right than our masters, because we're the ones who have to put up with our foul tempered masters." He said with a slight grin, and she kissed his cheek.

"I know. I take it Arthur and Gwen were also a delight this morning?"

"Yeah, you weren't much better, I had to calm down some poor girl Carrigan frightened into hysterics, Safer and Alymere were pricks as usual, and I had a fight with Gaius this morning."

Morgana remembered the last time he and Gaius had fought. She had been trying to bring down Camelot at the time, but she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Merlin when she saw how miserable he had been. Especially when he had been right all along anyway.

"That's not like you. What was it about?" she asked tenderly, taking his hand in hers and pressing her body up to his, allowing him to rest his forehead on hers.

"He had a go at me for not doing my chores last night. For a start, I didn't have much choice when I went out and secondly, I can't even remember the last time I did something just for pure enjoyment. Actually, I can. Do you know the last time I went out for a drink to relax? It was the day I met Gwaine. I can't even remember the last one before that. I need to look after Arthur and Gwen, attend to them virtually all day, doing chore for Gwen, mucking out stables, polishing armour and so on. I also need to help the knights. I help Percival vet the new knights. I also quite like seeing you as well. I need to allow myself such luxuries as eating and sleeping. There's also my job of saving the kingdom from evil every other day. Then I have to help Gaius with his patients too. And when I've done all of that, I still need to try and develop my magic, and after all that, there's still chores from Gaius to do! I'm only one person, I can't keep doing it all myself! So last night, I was ordered to go and relax and I did, and I got pulled up for it this morning because I neglected one of the multitude of jobs that I have to do, it's ridiculous. I just want to have something closely resembling a normal life, but no, I'm fricking Emrys, I don't get to have a normal life because my bloody destiny gets in the way." He ranted, at least until he was cut off by Morgana pressing her lips to his.

He did have to admit though, it did calm him down slightly.

"Feel better?" she asked with a coy smile, and he nodded slightly.

"Yeah, a little. Sorry, it's just..." he began, but she put her finger to his mouth to quiet him.

"Hush my love. It's ok to feel a little overworked, I don't blame you. You must be the busiest person in all of Camelot. Talk to Gaius. If he wants, I can get him a servant, give you a chance to relax before you either implode and kill yourself or explode and kill the rest of us." She said huskily, and he smiled at her, kissing her neck.

"Thanks. I will go and have a civil chat with him later. I mean I like my job, but with everything I've got to do, I'm just perpetually exhausted, I never get any time to myself. Or to be with you." He lamented, and she smiled, stroking his cheek.

"Talk to Gaius. Talk to Arthur. But, look at it this way. Now that I know of your magic, why not let me deal with some of the problems around the city? Give you a break. And if you want I'll study magic with you, then we can kill two birds with one stone. After all, Morgause's education was fairly limited in some areas." She said seductively, and he bent and kissed her deeply.

"Yeah that does sound good." He admitted when they broke for air.

"Oh don't flatter yourself, it's merely self concern. After all, you're not much good to me overtired." She whispered mischievously, and he was just about to kiss her again when Tristan barged out onto the ramparts.

Merlin immediately took Morgana's arm, as if to save her from falling, while she looked up at him with alarm in her green eyes.

"Thank you Merlin." She said in false relief, and he steadied her.

"Where's Arthur?" Tristan demanded, not having noticed anything, thankfully.

"He went out hunting. And I'm fine, thank you for asking." Morgana said tartly, making Merlin grin. Even surprised nothing could catch her completely off balance.

"He went out hunting? Why?" Tristan demanded, and Merlin began to feel worried.

"Tristan what is it?" he asked, the ever present concern for Arthur becoming stoked.

"I've been out in the seedier parts of the kingdom, listening around the taverns. Rumour has it that Odin has hired the Hassassin." He said worriedly, and Morgana's eyes widened in fear.

"The Hassassin?" she demanded.

"Who's he?" Merlin asked, knowing the look on Morgana's face couldn't signify good news.

"The best assassin in the land." She explained, and Merlin groaned. The last 'best' assassin had came all too close to killing Arthur too.

"Well apparently, he's here in Camelot, and gunning for Arthur. Looks like Odin still hasn't forgiven him for killing his son. And if he came in last night, he will definitely make a move today." Tristan said darkly.

There was a trumpet call from below, and Merlin looked down in alarm as Arthur and the rest of the knights headed down towards the gates of the city.

"He's just left...we'll never get to him in time, if the Hassassin sees Arthur, he'll take the opportunity to strike, Arthur won't know what's hit him." Tristan said worriedly.

"But they change their route every time, surely..." Morgana began hopefully.

"We can't take that chance. We need to make sure he's alright. See what I mean? I can't leave him unattended for two minutes without someone trying to kill him!" Merlin grumbled, and Tristan headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Morgana asked, taking Merlin's hand.

"To save Arthur." He said in confusion, but Morgana took his hand too.

"Don't be silly, by the time you got out the castle it could all be said and done. Come on." She said, and Tristan gave Merlin an alarmed glance.

"What's she doing?" he asked worriedly, and it suddenly dawned on him what his girlfriend was planning on doing.

"Oh, Morgana, no, don't!" he pleaded, but in a swirl off of white smoky magic, they were gone.

XX

Arthur was chatting cheerfully to Leon as they took the central route down towards the outskirts of the city. A day of hunting was just what they needed, a break from the city. The new knights were joining them for the first time today, and so far Alymere was behaving himself, as was Safer. Dagonet and Lucan were talking to Elyan and Percival, and Gwaine was moaning about his lost earnings to Gareth. Arthur smiled at the thought of Merlin clearing the knight out of his money. True he hadn't gotten over Morgana, but it had at least taken his mind off things. Arthur was just about to tease Gwaine when suddenly an arrow shot across the sky, flinging a net out behind it, that cascaded down on top of Elyan and Percival, knocking them from their horses. The net glowed blue and with a scream of pain the two knights passed out. Another arrow then fired, knocking Safer and Alymere off their horses, somehow managing to bind them together, leaving them totally unable to move. Dagonet and Lucan rushed to their kings side, but a fiery rope that looked like a snake bit Dagonet on the arm, and he swayed off his horse. Another arrow then hit Lucan in the chest, pitching him off the horse and to the ground, groaning weakly. Arthur drew Excalibur, but it would be no use against a long range assassin, who had now knocked Gwaine and Leon from their horses with two more arrows.

"Arthur, get out of here!" Gareth yelled, before his horse reared as an arrow flew too close to his muzzle, knocking him from the mount. Arthur was on his own, and leapt from his horse, just as an arrow shot into a gap in his armour.

Arthur staggered, feeling his blood suddenly burn white hot. He held his head, and the world started to spin around him. He could hear people yelling and screaming as the knights tried to defeat their assailant, but some were trapped, and others were poisoned just as he was. Arthur groaned, and the worlds colours began to shift into a kaleidoscope, swirling all around him. Arthur was trying hard not to throw up, as the world span around him, screams coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. He then saw a big black mass draw a sword, and Arthur feebly raised Excalibur to try and fend the attack off. It was no good however, and he staggered backwards, his eyes rolling in his head as he crashed to the floor, shivering and shaking from the poison. This was it, he was about to die. Merlin was right, he couldn't let him out of his sight for two minutes. Arthur breathed in, prepared to die, before someone else jumped in front of him, taking Excalibur from his hands. Arthur squinted his eyes, and watched as a young boy swung Excalibur into a backward grip, and raised the blade to block the assassins swing. Arthur watched in hallucinogenic amazement (stars were erupting all around him, as were rainbows), as the young boy with the backward grip forced the assassin back. He blocked the assassin's swing, turned around, and jabbed his fist upwards. The assassin took a couple of steps back, and collapsed to the floor, yellow liquid gushing from what Arthur assumed was his neck. He tried to say something, but then a very familiar and very comforting voice was right beside him, lifting him up and holding him too their body tightly.

"Arthur, are you ok?" Merlin asked, and he could dimly hear his sister curse as she arrived also.

"It's a hallucinogen, a nerve toxin from the southern lands. Helios used some. Hang on, I've dealt with it before." Morgana's voice said, and a second later, the world was restored to its normal colours and balance.

Arthur looked around as the all the knights sat up groggily, all weak, pale and shivering, just like he was. However, there were some benefits to being a king, as Merlin had him wrapped tight both with his cloak and with his servants own body. The horses were being corralled by Tristan, while the boy who had killed the assassin stood around nervously, fingering Excalibur while the assassin bled to death at his feet, and dozens of curious onlookers stared at the scene.

"Everyone all right?" Morgana asked, and Gwaine shook his head as he was pulled to his feet by Tristan.

"No, I feel bloody awful, what was that?"

"A drug. It burns up your blood, makes you feverish so you can't concentrate, everything starts spinning. Basically it warps everything, immobilises you so the assassin can strike." Morgana said, helping Elyan up and propping him against a wheezing Percival.

"We were no match for him...he nearly killed us all." Alymere said weakly, while Morgana gave him the once over.

"A clever attack. He must have had some degree of magic to be able to attack the way he did, but even so he was still a very deadly opponent. You're lucky to be alive." Morgana said, exchanging a dark look with Merlin.

"You ok?" Merlin asked worriedly, placing his hand on Arthur's all too hot forehead.

"I'll be fine. Who was he?" he asked, nodding his head down at the dead assassin, as Leon threw up.

"Formerly the best assassin in the land. Odin hired him to kill you. I heard on the grapevine. We barely got here in time to save you." Tristan said with a frown, checking Dagonet and Lucan.

"You need to sit down?" Merlin asked in concern, and Arthur waved him off.

"I'm fine." He said grouchily.

"Really?" Merlin asked with a small smile, and stepped away from Arthur, letting him stand on his own two feet.

He lasted two seconds before the world started spinning again, and Merlin caught him as he fell, grinning widely.

"Alright, so maybe I'm not fine." Arthur admitted weakly, shivering.

"You'll all be fine once we get you into a hot salt bath, counteract the toxin. It was close though. He knew exactly where you were going to be, he staged his attack perfectly." Morgana said worriedly.

"That guy nearly took down all of the knights. We couldn't stop him. Who poisons people first, that's just dishonourable?" Arthur moaned, and Merlin squeezed him tighter, and Arthur felt so ill and weak and horrified that he didn't even mind that Merlin was hugging him, but whether it was because of the attack, or because of what happened to his father, he didn't know.

"I can't let you out of my sight for ten minutes can I?" Merlin said, his tone slightly amused.

"Obviously not. We all look like crap." Gareth said croakily, patting his horse.

"We feel like crap." Elyan said, trying valiantly not to imitate Leon, and looking very pale while doing so.

"At least the assassin's dead. Thanks guys." Percival said to Morgana, Merlin and Tristan.

"We're not the ones you should thank. You lot might have survived but fine excuses for knights you'd be if the kid hadn't saved Arthur, the assassin was about to kill him." Merlin said, smiling at the young boy, who was looking at Merlin guiltily, having taken a small dagger from the neck of the assassin and put it back in his belt.

"What's your name?" Arthur asked the boy curiously, from his seat on a wall.

"Um, Kay sire. I didn't do anything wrong did I?" he asked worriedly, and Arthur gave him a small smile.

"Not from my point of view. Odin's yes, but mine no. From what little I saw of you, you're a pretty good fighter. Where did you learn to fight like that?" Arthur asked, tugging on Merlin, and the servant helped him stand up again.

"My father was one of your father's soldiers when he conquered Camelot. He then retired and opened up a forge, and we trained every day. Now I still try to train every day, but since my uncle died, business has been slow and not very many people come in anymore." The boy explained, looking very nervous to be before some of the most powerful people in the kingdom.

He was just about the same age Merlin had been when he had first arrived in Camelot. Tall and gawky, with a young, trusting face, he was just starting to get a light blond fuzz on his chin. His hair was a straw blond, slightly long, and fell into his bright blue eyes. In fact, if he hadn't been polite, Merlin might have thought he was Arthur's little brother.

"You're pretty good. You just took down a very deadly assassin, and saved the king and the knights of Camelot in the process. For that you ought to be rewarded." Arthur said, and Kay blushed.

"No my lord, it doesn't matter, I just wanted to help, I couldn't really let him kill you." He said bashfully, but Alymere waved away his objections.

"Nonsense lad, you just saved the day. Name your reward." He said, and Merlin looked at him in surprise, and to his greater surprise, Alymere nodded respectfully at him. Maybe some humility had been in his particular bit of toxin.

"I already have a reward in mind Kay, if you're willing." Arthur said, fighting down the urge to be sick.

"Yes sire?" Kay asked nervously, and then handing Excalibur back to the king with a blush of embarrassment.

"I saw you fight. You're good, if unorthodox. How do you feel about being a knight?" Arthur asked, and Kay's mouth dropped open.

"Seriously?" Merlin whispered into Arthur's ear in surprise.

"Yeah, seriously." he muttered back.

"Really sire?" Kay asked excitedly, and Arthur smiled slightly.

"Kay, I'm about to collapse, I don't have much time to make jokes. Really."

"Well, I'd be honoured sire." Kay said, bowing with an ecstatic grin on his face.

"Good, that's that settled then. I'll see you on the training field tomorrow, Sir Kay." Arthur said with a smile and a nod.

"Come on you, let's get you back to the castle. I can't keep you from your wife's inevitable wrath any longer. Kay, could you help us please?" Merlin asked, and the boy nodded, taking Arthur from him and helping him onto the horse, and the people began to flock to them all as protection, escorting the king and knights, plus their new member, back up to the castle.

"Nice kid." Merlin commented as he and Morgana headed back up to the castle together.

Morgana sighed.

"Yeah he is. He's also a potential problem." She said worriedly, and he looked at her, frowning.

"How can he be? Morgana, he just took out a very powerful assassin, he saved Arthur and the knights, and impressed them all so much that Alymere isn't acting like a jerk and Arthur made him a knight. How on earth can he be a problem?"

"Because he has magic." She whispered, and Merlin stopped short to look at her.

"Wait, what?"

"When he was fighting the assassin, I saw his eyes glow. That's how he spun so quickly and stabbed him, he used magic. And the best part of it is, I don't think he had any clue that he was doing it either." She said sadly, and Merlin groaned.

The boy, who had just done what all the knights had failed to do, protected Arthur and killed the assassin, the one who had just become a knight of Camelot, despite Camelot's policy towards magic users, was a sorcerer.

"Aw crap."

XX

A few hours later, dusk had fallen on the land. Arthur had been given a tongue lashing from both Merlin and Gwen, but he was feeling fine once more, the salt in his nice warm bath having completely driven the toxin from his body. The other knights were all in the same boat, fully recovered from the attack that had very nearly been the end of them all. Kay had been moved into the castle with a lot of help from Merlin, who had volunteered to help the boy after Gwen had sent Arthur to sleep. Merlin had been watching Kay all day but he hadn't performed magic of any sort. Maybe Morgana was mistaken. He had also talked to Gaius, who had apologised for having a go at Merlin, and everything was back to normal.

Except on the Isle of the Blessed, where Nimueh was standing in front of her scrying mirror, watching intently.

"What did your agent have to say my lady?" Agravaine asked, watching her as she viewed the mirror.

"That fool Odin sent an assassin to kill Arthur, and he nearly succeeded, until a boy stepped in and killed him, saving Arthur and the knights in the process. He said he had never seen fighting like what the boy was capable of before, and now, I'm slightly curious." She admitted.

Agravaine knew she had been in Camelot that afternoon, meeting with her agent. But what could attract such interest from the High Priestess?

"May I ask why?"

"We all sensed an awakening of power, a great power. Not quite as powerful as Lady Nimueh, Mordred, Emrys or his whore, but still considerably powerful." Alvarr explained, peering into the mirror.

"And you think the power you felt is something to do with the boy who saved Arthur?" Agravaine asked, and Mordred nodded, transfixed as he watched Nimueh cast spells on the mirror, changing the shapes and the colours within.

"Ah...there it is. Look!" Nimueh said in excitement, pointing to the mirror.

The boy had appeared in the mirror, a pulsing blue aura surrounding his form, and Mordred grinned.

"He's powerful." He said admiringly, and Nimueh stroked the mirror gently.

"Better than that, he is a latent sorcerer." She said dreamily, and Agravaine looked at her in confusion.

"What does that mean?" he asked, and she turned to explain.

"It means that his powers have just awoken, he's just coming into them. As such, he is at a crossroads in his life." She explained.

"The forty eight hour window." Alvarr supplied.

"In which a latent sorcerer decides which path to follow, the one in which he serves others, or serves himself." Nimueh said smugly, heading to her throne.

"Basically, he decides between good or evil." Mordred explained.

"And this boy has yet to choose?" Agravaine asked, smiling a little.

"Indeed. The problem is, Merlin is sure to know of him, and will be looking to protect him, make sure he adheres to his side. We cannot allow that to happen. Latent sorcerers are some of the most powerful. We must get him for our side." Nimueh said, and Alvarr frowned.

"I agree my lady, but we will not be able to reach Camelot within the window, unless you yourself plan to go, and that risks exposing your existence to Merlin." He pointed out.

"I agree Alvarr...which is why you will go in my place. Lancelot can continue Mordred's training. Go to Camelot. Tempt the boy, bring him to our side. You know what to do. And try to avoid encountering Merlin if you can, we don't want him any more on watch than he already is. I will alert one of my agents, get them to help you. Bring me this boy Alvarr. And if you can't, kill him." She ordered coldly, and flicked her wrist at Alvarr, and like that he was gone.

**Hello again!**

**Here we are with the latest chapter, and our knights for this story are now complete! But as you can see, Nimueh is after young Kay, and Alvarr is bound for Camelot, so what will happen next? The next chapter is the last part of this section of the story, and next time we shall see things start to heat up, as Nimueh gathers allies, Arthur prepares for the summit, and above all, a new enemy!  
**

**But until then, please read and review as always!  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin**

A Camelot Calamity

While Arthur and the knights were recovering from their near miss (a rare chance for the servants to actually get some work done without their masters getting in the way), and Gwen dealt with affairs of the state, Merlin was busy keeping an eye on Kay. The kid seemed nervous and jumpy, which he supposed was a reaction to suddenly being promoted to the position of knight. However, while he hoped that that was indeed the case, he couldn't get the warning Morgana had given him out of his head. Kay certainly didn't seem to be a magic user. But as Merlin kept an eye on him from afar, he was beginning to wonder if all the little signs that he kept leaving around the place were as obvious as the ones he himself left. Strange things kept happening, like a noble who gave Kay a sneering greeting suddenly tripped and fell flat on his face. A girl who he blushed upon meeting suddenly found a bouquet of flowers in a vase addressed to her. And while this things appeared harmless enough, and they certainly were, they were the very things that were likely to get the young kid discovered as a sorcerer, and both he and Morgana agreed that too many of their kind had been put to death because of that stupid law. And it was fear of the boy being caught that had brought both Merlin and Morgana to Gaius.

"You think he's a sorcerer?" Gaius asked worriedly, and Morgana nodded.

"Yes. Yesterday when he saved Arthur his eyes glowed, which is rather dangerous for a magic user around Camelot as we know. The worrying thing is, the kid didn't even seem aware that he was doing it." She said darkly, and Merlin looked at Gaius curiously.

"Could he not know that he was using it? Or is he just reckless?" he asked, and Gaius frowned.

"Well from what Morgana has said, he seems unaware that he's using it. And from spying on him, you reckon he's just carrying out his emotional desires, which makes me think he doesn't know he's doing it, which of course makes it all the more likely that he will do something and be discovered." Gaius said musingly, and Merlin shook his head.

"I'm not going to let him be discovered. But how can he not know he's doing it though, that just doesn't make any sense!" Merlin protested, and Morgana shrugged.

"Not necessarily, I didn't know I was a sorceress until Morgause found me, I suspected I had magic but I wasn't sure." She said, and Gaius frowned.

"Yes, but that is in part because I was suppressing your powers to keep you from Uther. Your powers have been part of you since birth, but there's a chance Kay's haven't." Gaius said, and she looked at him worriedly.

"Could he be a latent sorcerer?" she asked, and Gaius considered the possibility.

"Yes, that might just explain it." He said and bustled over to get one of his books.

"A latent sorcerer?" Merlin asked and Gaius explained as he came over with a book.

"A latent sorcerer is a sorcerer that doesn't discover their powers until much later in life. People like you and Morgana, you in particular, were born with your powers. Latent sorcerers have the ability except it doesn't manifest itself until much later on. And if that is what Kay is, we are in trouble." Gaius said as he read the book, and Merlin craned his neck to read the passage.

"The forty eight hour window of opportunity?" he asked, and Morgana nodded.

"In which a sorcerer who has just discovered their powers must choose how they will use their powers, which basically breaks down to good and evil. The choices Kay makes now will affect the rest of his life." She said, and Merlin frowned.

"Will what he's been doing affect it?" he asked and Gaius shook his head.

"No, the forty eight hour window is more than just making a casual choice and then sticking with it. What Kay is doing is just emotional responses, like when you get angry with Arthur for being an idiot."

"That's just a permanent state of mind then." Morgana said with a grin and Merlin glared at her.

"Yeah, but hard though it is, I don't risk turning him into something when I'm in a bad mood. Which is just as well I suppose. The point is, how do we help Kay?" he asked, and Gaius frowned, mulling it over.

"Well as the boy isn't even aware of his powers, we could easily just try and suppress his powers." He mused, but the dangerous look in Morgana's eyes told him that was a bad idea.

"No. Suppressing powers, even if done for the right reasons, is still wrong. It only makes the person in question terrified and then they make poor decisions out of fear. No. We just have to teach him that's all." She said, and Merlin, while he agreed with her on the not blocking his powers bit, looked at her sceptically.

"That's fine but how? Arthur will go nuts if he finds out the kid who just saved him who he made a knight also happens to be a sorcerer. And Kay's just a kid he probably won't want it bandied around that he's a sorcerer." He said, and she frowned.

"Maybe you and I should just go and talk to him." She mused, and Gaius looked at her worriedly.

"What if he doesn't take to it well? He might expose Merlin." He said nervously, and Merlin looked so sad and scared about that fact that Morgana's heart melted a little bit.

"He won't. If we help him, he could actually be a great help." She theorised, and Gaius nodded musingly, the thought of Merlin having less to do was a good one.

"Gaius, we have to help him. I could have helped someone once before and didn't and look where that got us all. If we do this, we can help him and actually might be able to get something right for a change." Merlin said pleadingly, and Gaius nodded.

"Very well Merlin, but be careful. If Kay is indeed a latent sorcerer you can bet someone out there will know and will be seeking to use him to their own advantage. Be careful." Gaius warned and Merlin grinned.

"When aren't I?" he asked cheerfully, and Morgana grinned.

"Oh I don't know, rumour has it a certain sorceress got her hands on you not that long ago because you weren't careful enough to stay beside Arthur." She taunted and Merlin glared at her while she and Gaius laughed.

XX

Alvarr watched as Morgana and that ever present pest Merlin headed for Kay's rooms. He could still scarcely believe that Merlin was the all powerful Emrys, and here he was, shacked up with his former arch-enemy no less. The entire thing didn't make any sense.

He would need to be careful about this. The last time he was here he was confident that he could easily have defeated Morgana, and back then he could effortlessly killed Merlin in a duel. However, now that the circle of people who knew the truth about Merlin was expanding, he was bound to become more confident in using his magic, and along with that Morgana was a High Priestess. With Nimueh able to resurrect people, which took a hell of a lot of power, if Morgana commanded anything within the same region of that power he would be in grave danger if anything went wrong.

But, the boy, Kay, the one he was here for, he may very well be of great use in getting to Merlin and Morgana.

"Hey, can I help you?" a voice called, and Alvarr turned to see a man with long brown hair and a beard looking at him suspiciously.

"Can I help you sir?" Alvarr asked, bowing respectfully to the knight.

"I asked first. What are you doing snooping around here?" Gwaine asked, and Alvarr smiled.

"Forgive me, I only wanted a look at the witch of Camelot, it's hard to believe." He said smoothly, and Gwaine narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah it is. I think you better be going. I doubt the king would take well to anyone ogling his sister. Get out of here." Gwaine said, and Alvarr bowed once more before retreating, cursing his carelessness silently as he did so.

It would not do to make the knights suspicious of him. No, he would find some way to get it. After all, there were only forty eight hours in which he could act, but the same was true for Merlin and Morgana. He would think of something.

And if not, he would kill them all.

"Problem Gwaine?" Dagonet asked, coming up behind Gwaine as the elder knight looked at the retreating servant.

"Just an odd servant." He said dismissively, and Dagonet grinned.

"Odder than Merlin?"

"Definitely. Come on, you can buy me a drink." Gwaine said, and Dagonet rolled his eyes and followed Gwaine from the castle.

XX

They arrived at Kay's room, to hear all sorts of metal clanging noises, swear words, yelps of pain and moans of fear and panic coming from inside.

"You reckon he's got someone in there with him?" Morgana asked nervously and Merlin winced as there was a particularly vehement curse from inside.

"If he has, the cat's already out of the bag. You really think I should just expose myself to this kid? What if he panics, and then gets me made a head shorter?" he asked nervously, but Morgana shook her head.

"He won't. Sounds like he's the only person in there anyway. Alright, we go in, shut the door right behind us, then talk to him." She said, and Merlin nodded, grasping the door handle.

"Ready?" he asked, as Kay swore loudly.

"Yep. Go!" she encouraged and they barged into the door, and for the first time the two sorcerers saw exactly what would happen if they had no control at all over their powers.

Everything that was not bolted down was on the move. The bed covers were continually twisting themselves into knots and then untwisting themselves again, while floating in mid air. The fruit bowl and all its contents was hovering in mid air, the fruits doing a sort of dance around it. The cupboard doors were opening and closing of their own free will, clothes of all sorts flying here there and everywhere. Kay's sword was zooming through the air with a sinister whooshing noise, his little dagger was embedding itself randomly in the walls and even a deadly looking hammer was moving around as if being swung through the air. Plates were slinging through the air, goblets moving with the pace akin to that which Arthur threw them at Merlin. Cutlery however seemed to be Kay's main problem, he seemed to be in the middle of it all, with knives, spoons and forks all zooming at him murderously, and he yelped or swore every time he was beset by something. Cursing as a spoon whacked him in the back of the head, he suddenly noticed the astounded Merlin and Morgana and let out a whimper of fear, and with a great crash everything came tumbling down to the floor and the young knight started to back away in terror, looking completely terrified as he did so, coming against the wall and sliding down to the floor.

Merlin advanced forward hesitantly as Morgana made sure the door was shut, and Kay's wild eyes were looking as if to find a weapon to defend himself with, looking at Merlin with abject terror in his eyes, his entire body shaking in fear and denial, his face pale, his breath coming in short, frightened gasps.

"Hey, we aren't going to hurt you, I promise, we won't tell anyone." Merlin said in a soothing voice, and as he did so Morgana couldn't keep from feeling a twinge of annoyance, if the blasted dragon and Gaius hadn't stopped Merlin telling her a few years ago, everything might have been different, and she might have been the one to have been gently approached by Merlin, calmed with a soothing voice. And besides, she would rather have liked Merlin to calm her down even back then, not that she was going to admit that to him.

Kay looked at him suspiciously, and around the room in terror before his eyes landed on Morgana, who he looked at with a mixture of fear, respect and pleading.

"I'm...you're...you can do stuff like that can't you?" he asked in a shaky voice, and mirroring her lover, she crouched down in front of Kay, her face surprisingly gentle.

"Yes I can. Although with a little bit more control than that." She said, and Merlin grinned.

"Not much more though, she tried to burn down the castle once even before she turned evil." He said and Morgana glared at him, but it did seem to calm Kay slightly so she supposed she could let it slide.

"I don't understand, I'm not a sorcerer, what's happening to me?" he asked, his voice trembling and looking at them urgently, and everything started to vibrate and start to fly into the air again, and Merlin exchanged a worried look with Morgana.

"Kay, you need to calm down." Merlin said anxiously, as a metal plate zinged above their head, making Morgana curse as it came close to taking her head off.

"Calm down? I've suddenly turned into a sorcerer! I'm a sorcerer and now I'm a knight of Camelot, they kill sorcerers here, I don't want to be one, I just want to be normal! I don't want to be burned at the stake! I just want to be a knight and I don't even know how I got that! If the king finds out I'm a sorcerer..." Kay prattled, becoming more and more hysterical, and Morgana looked at Merlin desperately, until Merlin whistled, cutting Kay off in the middle of his rant.

"Kay, you have to calm down ok? Listen to me. Calm down. Believe it or not, the two of us know what you're going through better than anyone else in the world. Watch." He said gently, and with a flash of his eyes, a small dragon made of fire appeared in his hand.

And strangely, that seemed to calm Kay. He looked at the fiery dragon, and then at Merlin in awe, and, not wanting to be outdone, Morgana, smiling as she did so, conjured a dragon of her own, this one made of water and attacked Merlin's one, and he yelped as the cold water quenched his fire.

"How do you two do that? Well I get how you do it princess, everyone knows about you, but Merlin, what...?" Kay asked nervously, and Merlin grinned half-heartedly, though Morgana noticed his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I'm a sorcerer too. Like I said, Morgana and I get what you're going through more than anyone." He assured the boy, and Kay looked at him, hesitantly trusting.

"Do you know what's happening to me?" he asked nervously, and Morgana nodded kindly.

"Yes we do. And we can help you." She promised and Kay began to look at them with hope in his eyes.

XX

"So, you're saying I'm a sorcerer like you?" Kay asked timidly, after they had given him the bare bones of the situation, and Merlin nodded.

"Yeah, only not quite like me, you're more like Morgana, I've had my powers since birth, she only found out about hers later on. You're only discovering yours now." He explained.

"But why? Can't I stop them?" he asked nervously, and Morgana shook her head sadly.

"No Kay, they're part of you. You're a latent sorcerer, which means unlike me, who's powers developed all my life I just wasn't aware of them, or Merlin who's had and been aware of his since birth, you're only coming into your powers now. The theory is that a grandparent or something had magic and it then skipped a generation, hence why it took so long to manifest in you. They're part of you, you're a sorcerer." She said, part sympathy, part understanding, and Merlin was struck by how much her previous kindness and compassion, something he had long since assumed lost due to Uther and Morgause, had returned, and only Kay's presence was keeping him from kissing her as she looked so kind and beautiful.

"The king will have me killed if he finds out I've got these powers." Kay said fearfully, and Merlin shook his head.

"No, he won't. Because he won't find out, we won't tell him. Believe me the two of us are used to living in fear, but that will change. Arthur isn't nearly as narrow minded as his father was. Look at Morgana, despite everything she's done with magic at her disposal he still took her back in and forgave her. Look Kay, I know you're scared. Arthur doesn't know about me yet either, and I'm terrified of telling him. I don't know what he'll do to me. Morgana was the exception that proved the rule, because of everything that sorcerers and magic have done to him, he hates it nearly as much as his damned father. Nimueh, Morgause, Morgana, even stuff I've done to him however unintentional I'm terrified I've turned him against magic forever. There've been times that he was close to reconsidering his views on magic, thinking it wasn't always as evil as his father taught him, but to protect him I've had to turn him against it even more. One day magic will be free again, but until then we just have to be careful." Merlin said kindly and Kay scowled.

"I don't want to be magic, I just want to be normal, I've managed all my life without magic so how come I've suddenly been landed with it?" he asked irritably.

"I know it sucks, and there's times that I wish I wasn't magical, I could do with the rest." Merlin said irritably, and Morgana smiled slightly.

"We won't let anything happen to you alright?" she assured him, reminding herself to make sure Merlin relaxed a little later.

"But why now?" Kay asked nervously and Merlin shrugged.

"We don't know. But you are a sorcerer. But you aren't alone. The two of us are too, and we'll help you. I let someone deal with what you're going through alone once before, and all it did was destroy everyone I love. We'll help you Kay. You don't have to be afraid." Merlin assured him, and Kay grinned ever so slightly.

"Bet it's worse for you, after all, you're the king's servant and you're a sorcerer, it must drive you mad." He said with sympathy and Merlin smiled slightly.

"I'm not going to lie to you Kay. Being a sorcerer in Camelot is a nightmare, you can't let anyone know who you really are, and then everyone sees your mask because it's easier. They see you as a simple fool, or a loving ward because it's easier than admitting to themselves that there's something more to you. You don't get any thanks, well you will, you're a knight, but everyone overlooks you and everyone you care about doesn't care about the real you because you can't be the real you because if you are, you get your head chopped off. But you have something Morgana and I never had, someone who can help. I've stood by and let too many sorcerers fall, and I'm not going to let you go the same way. And odd though it sounds and as horrible at times though it is, your magic is a gift, one you can use for good. Your magic is a gift to be protected and used for others, not for yourself or to get what you want. And you need to be careful, because for now it has to remain a secret. But trust me Kay, you are special, and we're going to make sure you stay that way." He vowed fiercely, and Kay smiled slightly.

"Wow, you really care about this stuff." He said, and Morgana smiled.

"No, he just has a thing for causes. Look at Arthur." She quipped, and Merlin looked at her smugly.

"Not the only cause I've got. Also got one everyone else thought was lost." He reminded her tartly, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"So what do I do?" Kay asked nervously and Merlin smiled at the young man.

"You learn how to use your magic, we'll help you." He assured him and Kay sighed, giving them one last desperate look.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do? I never wanted to be magical and the king, you're not like me, he won't kill you he knows you, but me..."

"I'm not so sure he won't kill me. Whatever happens when he finds out, it won't be pretty for any of us. But the king isn't going to find out about you any time soon because we're going to be clever about this. Morgana and I will train you if you want, we'll help you come to terms with your magic, learn how to use it properly. You up for it?" Merlin asked, and Kay frowned, and Merlin felt his heart sink.

"Yeah. But I'm only doing this because I have to, I don't want to do it. I never wanted to be magical and I've gone my entire life without it so I can do without it now. And I'm a knight, in Camelot no less, I don't want to risk that, or my life. So can you just tell me how to control it?" he asked hopefully, and while the sad and disappointed expression on Merlin's face broke her heart, Morgana nodded.

"Of course we will." She assured him and as Kay relaxed, a thought crossed her mind.

Gaius was right, there was every chance that someone out there wanted to get their hands on Kay, and also every chance that it was a powerful sorcerer who was out there and plotting against Camelot. And with the forty eight hour window still open then Kay, and by extension her and Merlin, were going to be prime targets. So now, the most powerful sorcerer in the world, combined with a high priestess, tutoring a young but powerful latent sorcerer, while some unknown sorcerer plotted against them all.

Wonderful.

XX

"MERLIN!" Arthur bellowed, and Gaius cursed as he heard the king stomping along the way to his rooms.

Merlin and Morgana had left a while ago to go and see Kay, to try and find out exactly how much the young lad knew about his magical abilities. However, because Merlin, no matter how good he was, couldn't be in two places at once, he now had a rather irate king looking for him. Gaius cursed under his breath. He could hardly tell Arthur that his servant and his sister were away tutoring a neophyte sorcerer. However he also couldn't give Arthur his usual excuse that Merlin was in the tavern. The reason for which was twofold. First of all, Gwaine had opened his trap once and that had led to Gaius and Merlin having to answer some very tricky questions. The second reason was that Merlin had threatened to murder him if he told Arthur he was in the tavern again, because if told that Merlin was in the tavern instead of doing his job, Arthur then proceeded to make Merlin's life hell, and Gaius was rather fearful that Merlin would make good on his pledge if he had to clean the stables out with a toothbrush again.

"You rang sire?" Gaius asked as Arthur banged open the door.

"Where is that useless servant of mine?" Arthur demanded, and Gaius cocked his eyebrow.

"He isn't with you? Then I have no idea where he is? Perhaps he is helping Percival with the training?" he suggested and Arthur scowled.

"No he isn't, otherwise I'd have found him by now. How hard can it be to find him, where does he go when he vanishes like this?" he asked irritably.

"Perhaps he had an urgent reason to vanish sire. He rarely does anything without a reason, so I suspect that whatever his reason for vanishing it is a good one." Gaius chided gently and Arthur sighed in annoyance.

"Fine, but if you see him, tell him I want him." He said grumpily and stormed out.

"My, he's in a bad mood. Glad he's not my boss." Gaius muttered, feeling sorry for what Merlin would do when Arthur found him.

Sometimes Gaius did have to agree, Merlin's magic and his associated duties really were more trouble than they were worth.

XX

"I've got it!" Morgana said in a panic, stomping out the fire Kay had accidentally set off on the bedspread.

"Hmm, I don't think I'm much good at this." Kay lamented and the witch smiled a little as smoke raised around her in wisps.

"Don't worry, I was like that once too." She assured him and Merlin grinned.

"You still are." He said with a grin and Kay started to share it, making her look at them as if they were both mad.

"What are you two both grinning at?" she demanded, and then smelled smoke and looked down to see the bottom of her dress was smouldering.

As Morgana cursed and swore (much more fluently and elaborately than Kay had) Merlin looked at Kay, pondering. They had been at it for hours, the sun had risen all the way up into the sky and now the moon was following it in the time they'd been in here helping Kay. They'd heard Arthur's not so dulcet tones ripping apart the castle as he looked for his servant (Merlin was going to flay Gaius alive if he told Arthur he was in the tavern) and still they had continued on, pressing ahead with Kay's training and they had made some progress. His magic was no longer bursting out of him at random intervals, the things in the room (which had included Merlin and Morgana once or twice) had stopped flying around and he had accomplished some control over some basic spells (healing the bruises he'd accidentally inflicted on himself was a bit beyond him) and had some degree of control. But when they had moved onto more powerful magic, offensive magic, they had ground to a stop.

Merlin knew Kay didn't want to be learning magic. He knew he didn't want to be magic, just like Morgana hadn't. But his actions had destroyed one person who was afraid of their magic and he wasn't going to let it happen again if he could help it. And now he was faced with a dilemma. Was Kay's difficulty with offensive magic because he simply didn't want to learn it and be magical in the first place, or was it because they hadn't managed to do it right yet? Was he just struggling to find his feet? Merlin didn't know. After all, he'd had to learn specific spells over the years, usually with the thought of something bad happening to Arthur if he didn't, but usually everything else just came to him. Morgana on the other hand had been taught many offensive powers, and her instruction under Morgause had prepared her and she'd been given enough of a basis that her own cleverness would help her figure out the rest of it. However, defensive magic and healing magic she hadn't been taught and her knowledge there was lacking. Or maybe Kay was just like Merlin and had a lesser proclivity for one aspect of magic, like Merlin had with healing.

He just didn't know, and he couldn't help Kay if he didn't.

"Maybe we should just give up." Kay said irritably, but Morgana, the bottom of her robe still smoking, shook her head.

"Kay, this is part of you, and while it may not seem like it now, this does mark you, powerful beings will be after you, after your power, and you need to be able to defend yourself with something more than a sword!" she insisted, but Kay abruptly got to his feet, looking angry.

"What, so now powerful sorcerers are going to be gunning for me? I don't want this, I didn't want any of this! Arthur made me a knight, which is more than I ever hoped I would be, and now you're telling me I'm a sorcerer and will get myself killed if anyone knows what I really am! I don't want to be a sorcerer, I only ever wanted to be a knight, and now I am, I don't want the magical aftertaste! I can't do it, I don't want to be able to conjure fire or lightning, I just want to be normal, so just leave me alone!" he yelled and stormed out of his own room, but to their relief and his credit, his magic wasn't exploding out of him as he did it, so they must have made some progress.

Merlin sagged sadly as the boy stormed away, seething. Morgana came up beside him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"We can't force it on him Merlin. I know where he's coming from. He's only sixteen, younger than you were when you first came here, he's bound to be overwhelmed. His family hasn't long died, he's too young to fend for himself no matter how good a smith he might be. He's suddenly been elevated from a mere blacksmith to becoming a knight of Camelot after saving the king and all his knights single handedly and now the twice conqueror of Camelot, the resident witch and her secret boyfriend appear out of nowhere and tell him that on top of everything else, he's a latent sorcerer so he's now getting all of his powers and learning he truly is and has had no time or knowledge to prepare himself for it. It's bound to be a lot to take in honey." She said softly and he sighed.

"I know. And I get that he's a kid and it's a lot to take in, but I don't want to go through the same hell we went through with you if we can help it. I just want to help him." He said sadly and she stroked his cheek.

"He's just overwhelmed my love. Give him time and space, and we can try again in the morning. And, if he is convinced he doesn't want to be magical, then so be it. If he doesn't want to use his magic, we make sure he's safe for the next forty eight hours and then we support his decision. Seem fair?" she asked and Merlin nodded.

"Yeah it does. I just wish that he could see that it is a gift as well as a curse." He moaned, and she kissed his cheek.

"You need to learn to relax honey. Come on. You can walk me back to my room." She said seductively and Merlin grinned.

"Lady Morgana are you trying to seduce me?" he asked and she smiled.

"Yes. First of all, you need a break. Second, you need to relax. Third, there isn't much we can do about Kay at the moment, he needs to cool down, and he's hardly going to fall to the dark side over night. And besides, the longer we keep you away from Arthur the better." She said, taking his hand as he groaned and leading him to her chambers.

XX

Kay, still angry, barged into the tavern, and upon seeing that he was a knight, the bartender immediately got him a drink, though a little watered down as he was younger than the others. Then, ignoring Lucan, Alymere, Elyan and Tristan who were arm wrestling in the corner he threw himself into a booth and clutched his pounding head.

He didn't want to be magical, especially if using his magic gave him a throbbing headache like this. He knew he shouldn't take it out on Merlin and Morgana, after all, they were just trying to help him. And Merlin in particular was taking a grave risk in helping him with his magic, because he could easily be exposed but the young serving boy seemed to think Kay was worth it, despite him not wanting to learn magic. Kay didn't want this. He'd seen the rampages Uther had gone on, hunting down innocents just because he feared their magic. And now, despite not having magic all his life he was suddenly a sorcerer, which was something he certainly didn't want. Kay hissed. All he'd wanted when he was growing up was to become a blacksmith like his father and uncle had been. He'd never even had an interest in becoming a knight like his father had been, until now. Now, he was a knight, appointed by the king after he had saved him, and he loved it, it was more than he had ever wanted.

Magic wasn't.

He knew it wasn't fair to blame Merlin and Morgana, after all they were only trying to protect him, but he couldn't help but resent them slightly, despite Merlin and Morgana's words they couldn't quite grasp what he was going through. Morgana got it more than Merlin did, but that wasn't anyone's fault.

Why was this happening to him? He had never wanted this, he didn't want to live with life in constant danger. He didn't have a clue how Merlin managed it without going round the twist. And now the rules and warnings the two of them had given him were echoing in his head. They said they understood, but he couldn't keep using his powers emotionally, he had to learn control. But that was one thing he had never understood about magic users. Morgana had explained about her sister Morgause, and Kay couldn't help but wonder if she was so powerful and such a skilled warrior, why didn't she just charge into Camelot and kill him when she had challenged Arthur rather than mess around like she had?

But they were sorcerers, something he had been told he had to despise in Camelot growing up. But while everyone knew what Morgana was capable of (not that she or her actions had ever harmed him) Merlin seemed too nice and caring to threaten anyone, whether he was a sorcerer or not. He didn't know what to do, he was suddenly vested with great power, and now he had to hide it, when he could use it to help.

Or to punish. Arrogant fools like those on the council, Carrigan in particular, ought to be taught a lesson, so why didn't Merlin and Morgana make them pay for their actions, the way some of them treated others? And Carrigan was dangerous anyone could see that. He had magic now, but he couldn't do anything about all the injustice around him. If they had magic they ought to be able to do something positive, change the world and make it better, not be forced to hide for fear of their lives.

"You seem troubled friend." A voice said and Kay looked up to see a man approaching with two tankards of mead.

He was a fairly tall man, with sandy coloured slightly blond hair. He had a small beard, his eyes were sharp, quick, brown and intelligent. He was clad in leathers akin to someone who did a lot of travelling and a sword was hanging at his waist.

"I'm fine thanks." Kay said, rubbing his head.

"You don't look it. Here, get this down you, I saw the tender water down your drink earlier, obviously doesn't think you should be drinking at your young age." The man said with a strong, silky voice and he sat down opposite Kay.

Alvarr studied the young man as he sat down. Tall and gawky, now he was training with the knights his gawkiness was already starting to wear off, and muscle was beginning to be developed. His face was young, bright and eager, with blue eyes that looked incredibly tired. His hair was slightly long on top but short at the sides, giving his hair a spiky appearance. And today he looked very drawn, but now that Merlin and his wench had gotten to him, Alvarr could feel the powerful magic pulsing under the surface. Yes, this boy couldn't be entrusted to Merlin and Morgana. If he did not see sense and join Nimueh then he would have to be destroyed.

"Thanks, but I'd really rather be left alone." Kay said, as the knights over on the other side of the room seemed to content to ignore him, he just wished this guy would as well.

"Come now. I see you're young and hence uninitiated in the ways of the tavern. This is how it works my fine young friend. You find a random stranger, tell him what's bothering you, he does the same, you both get totally wasted and the next morning all you can remember is that you talked your problems over." He said jovially, and Kay looked at the man curiously.

"Who are you?" he asked, as the man's melodic voice was beginning to make him listen to him.

"My name? I'm just a passing stranger, but if you must know my name is Alvarr. So friend, what troubles you?" he asked, and Kay frowned at him suspiciously.

"As I'm new at this, why don't you go first?" he asked, and Alvarr smiled, saluting Kay with his glass as he did so.

"Certainly. Do I get to know your name first though?" he asked and Kay smiled.

"Kay."

"Very well Kay. Well my problem here is this. I've recently been press ganged into the service of shall we say a noblewoman. She isn't very nice and expects perfection. I'm here on an errand for her and I dread to think what will happen if I fail to meet my expectations. She has a bunch of sycophants moping around after her, and she keeps a pet beast that she's been known to feed failures to. So you see, I'm in fear for my life. If I fail, she'll either kill me, have one of her minions kill me, or feed me to her pet, and I'd rather avoid all of the above problems. And in order to avoid this, I need to get someone to go and join her, but as she's a rather unpleasant boss, it will be very hard to convince said person, especially as he's already had another offer." He explained and Kay shrugged.

"Well, make your offer. If it's better the other guy might join you. And if he doesn't, just don't go back to her, simple as that." He said, and Alvarr smiled.

"It's not nearly as simple as that my fine young friend, she would track me down, torture me and then kill me. Either way she is not a nice person." He explained, and while he weaved the story, he realised that least some of it was true.

If he failed, Nimueh probably wouldn't kill him but she would be far from happy and would most likely torture him, especially since she had been conjuring a nathair the day before, and he had no desire to go up against one of them. However she would most likely torture him for failing and she would be less than impressed if she didn't get her hands on Kay. He suppressed a shudder as he looked musingly at Kay, beckoning him to make his own contribution.

"Well my life's changed a lot recently. I used to be a blacksmith and then I saved the king, and got made a knight. And I love that, I really do, I kind of always wanted to be a knight I just couldn't. But ever since then my life has changed in other ways, ways I'm not no fond of. I mean I have people helping me, but I don't think they really get it, and there's all these rules and not all of them make sense and I just don't know what to do about it." He said sullenly, and Alvarr frowned.

"Rules? Well I understand the knights have rules, but these others, are they forcing these rules on you without your consent?" he asked softly, and Kay frowned.

"No, I know they're only trying to protect me and look out for me. But some of the things just don't make sense. I don't see why I can't punish people who deserve it if I'm careful. Or help people who need it. He does at least, try to help out when he can. She can't because of who she is." Kay muttered to himself and Alvarr affected a look of curiosity.

"Who would these people be, and why do you let them control you?" he asked, and Kay shrugged.

"Well she's used to it. No matter where she's been, she's always had someone to tell what to do, she probably expects to be obeyed. And he seems to know what he's talking about, and he's cleverer than the king gives him credit for, I can see it. He dismisses him and the others sort of don't see all of him, but I do." Kay said softly, and Alvarr looked at him with genuine curiosity, he wanted to know what the boy saw when he looked upon Emrys.

"What is it you see that makes you treat this two with such respect? You sound like you disagree with their restrictions, but you certainly admire them." He explained and Kay nodded.

"Yeah, they've both done a lot. She's like...I don't know, looking at a snow covered mountain, bright, cold and powerful but alluring in some ways. And he's like looking at the sun." Kay explained and Alvarr sat back, interested.

"You are loyal to them?" he asked cautiously, and Kay shrugged.

"I don't really know. I mean I only really saw her in passing until today when she appeared out of the blue to help me with my problem." He admitted lamely, barely catching himself before he revealed he had magic.

Was this what his life was going to be like? Forced to keep quiet, forever be on his guard in case someone found out who he was?

"I hate this! I know they think it's good but it's wrong, and I can't even use it the way I want to use it because of their stupid rules. I don't want to be like this, I never did!" Kay grumbled, downing the last of his ale.

"Well why be like this then? I'm sure whatever you are can be a gift as well as a curse. But if you are truly unhappy with it, then ask your friends to help you get rid of it. Surely they will." Alvarr said, and Kay scowled.

"No, they think it's a gift. She could probably do it, but she wouldn't, she thinks its a gift, a hell of a lot more than I do."

"Hmm...far be it from me to criticise your friends, but it seems to me like they might not have your best interests at heart. It seems like they're doing what they want, what they think you ought to do rather than what's best for you. And these rules of theirs, all they seem to be doing is making you miserable. Don't stand for it." Alvarr encouraged and Kay looked thoughtful.

"Well, I know they only want to look out for me, but I didn't want this, and the rules, some make sense but others just seem to stop me using my powers for anything good." He said, then wincing but Alvarr appeared not to notice that he had said powers.

"There are always other ways. There way is not the only one. Forge your own path friend. You can make your life your own, to hell with them." He whispered desperately, and Kay looked at him suspiciously.

"Why are you so interested?" he asked suddenly.

He may be slightly inhibited by the drinks alcohol he had consumed, but Alvarr suddenly seemed all too interested in him, too curious, and now he was worried about just how much he had given away.

"Calm yourself friend. You want to know why? I'll show you." He said, and his eyes flashed gold and refilled their tankards, and Kay's eyes widened.

"You're a sorcerer too?" He gasped in astonishment, and Alvarr grinned.

"Yes my boy. And your mentors way is not the only way, I can assure you of that. How do you fancy showing me what you can do?" he said, but Kay still looked suspicious.

"What have you got against them?" he demanded and Alvarr put his hands in the air peaceably.

"Nothing. However, there are other paths. They're trying to train you to hide in the shadows, to deny who you truly are. Not with me. I can help you Kay, show you the true meaning of what you are."

Kay scowled.

"I don't want to know the true meaning, I don't like being like this." He complained and Alvarr grinned.

"Then I can help you my young friend. But are you sure you wish to cast your magic aside so easily?" he asked, and Kay did hesitate a little. After all, he had to admit it that learning with Merlin and Morgana had been fun. And the two of them, teaching him, it had been nice, he had never had a teacher before, and the two of them were so different magically that they could both help him in so many different ways. But he still didn't want magic. He'd seen what it had done to Camelot over the years and heard of the damage it had wrought on people in the kingdom. How could something so bad be good?

"Come Kay, and I will tell you everything you need to know." Alvarr assured him, and in his curious and fearful state, he followed.

XX

The next morning dawned as it always did, and Morgana, waking up alone to her great irritation (Merlin hadn't been able to stay last night Gwen had popped by and had warned Merlin that Arthur was on the war path for disappearing the day before), allowed herself to relax. After all, Kay had made good progress the previous day, he could now control his powers, and so far it seemed as if he hadn't been tempted and what was more there was no sign of interference from anyone trying to turn him to the other side. Morgana smiled as she donned her royal blue dress. No council sessions, Kay was alright, no imminent threats and she'd thought of several ways she could get Merlin to relax (boy did he need it). Figuring her first course of action ought to be to find out if Kay was indeed alright she headed down to the training field, where Percival was continuing to put the new recruits through their paces. However, as she headed for the stairs and looked out of the window, the blond head of Kay was noticeably absent. Frowning slightly, but figuring it was too early to worry either Merlin or Gaius, she swept along to where the boy had been assigned quarters, a few doors along from Gwaine, not that she thought that was a good idea.

"Kay? Are you in there?" Morgana asked, knocking on the door.

"Morning Morgana." Tristan said cheerfully as he whistled to himself heading up the corridor.

"Have you seen Kay?" she asked curiously, and he shook his head.

"Not since last night, he came into the tavern looking rather annoyed so we left him alone. Why?" he asked and she smiled easily.

"I don't know, because he's new I think. I want to keep an eye on him. If he was in the tavern he'll have a hangover, I'll send him down once I fix him up." She assured him and Tristan gave her a searching look and a small smile.

"I never thought I would say this but you're a nice person Morgana." He said as he headed off, and she smiled slightly. Odd though it was, she had missed people telling her that.

Flicking her hand at the door, she opened it and then yelped as it was nearly slammed shut on her fingers.

"Ow son of a!" Morgana cursed, sucking her skint finger angrily as an alarmed looking Kay, already dressed in his armour, came out, looking angry, shocked, slightly apologetic and ever so slightly nervous.

"Sorry." He said uncertainly as she sucked the small bit of blood that had appeared on her finger.

"You realise you're meant to be on the field?" she asked and he nodded, and then he glowered at her, and she was quite taken aback by the venom in his gaze, the last person who looked at her like that she had slept with, but then Merlin was different.

"Yeah I'm just going there now. Why were you trying to get in my room?" he demanded and she looked at him patiently.

"I was worried about you of course. And why the hell did you slam the door so hard on me?" she asked and Kay narrowed his eyes.

"I like my privacy. Especially from you and Merlin." He said snappily and she arced her eyebrow at him.

"What's wrong with you today? Look Kay, we're just trying to make sure you don't get into trouble and that you're safe, can you really blame us? Merlin and I have seen enough people like us dead, we don't want to add you to the list." She said but he continued to glower.

"Yeah well maybe I don't want you to. Maybe I don't want to follow everyone of your stupid rules. Maybe I want to make my own way. Why should we hide? We're stronger than they are, you could easily have taken down Arthur yet you didn't because you're not strong enough. And Merlin's not brave enough, I've seen him follow Arthur around, he's like his little puppy and no matter how much Arthur mistreats him he still comes back with his tail between his legs. He's pathetic!" Kay snapped, but so did Morgana's control over her temper.

"Enough!" she said, her eyes flashing gold and he slammed against the wall, pinned there by her powers.

"Let me go Morgana." Kay hissed, and she could tell something was seriously wrong here, yesterday he had been terrified of his magic, he hadn't wanted it, and while he had been eager enough to learn control he clearly wasn't much interested beyond that. And now all of a sudden he had changed, become a much darker personality, and she could feel his magic, still largely untamed, boiling beneath the surface. Something had happened to him, someone had got to him, and now, the power inside him and the injustice around him was getting to him.

After all, she ought to know the signs. They had happened to her as well.

And she was damned if she was going to let this kid go the same way she did.

And Merlin sure as hell didn't need to watch someone else he cared about, another magic user no less and someone he trusted already despite hardly knowing the kid to turn on him.

She wouldn't allow it.

"No. Now, you were perfectly fine when you left us last night, a little angry and stressed sure, but not like this. And all of a sudden you're extolling the virtues of magic and telling me we should take over? What happened to you?" she demanded angrily and he glared at her.

"I woke up to the truth Princess that's all. We shouldn't be hiding, I was wrong to be scared of my magic. Now, let me go." He snarled angrily, and Morgana suppressed a shudder at how much the boy had changed in such a short space of time.

"Kay, what..." she began and then shrieked as her bracelet covered wrist suddenly burned as his eyes flashed.

"Leave me alone Morgana. I don't need you or Merlin anymore. I'm doing this my way. Oh, and if you want your precious little Merlin to remain undiscovered, you'll keep this to yourself." He snarled and shouldered past her, knocking her into the wall.

Morgana watched in shock as Kay strode away from her, shock, fear and hurt radiating off her. She hadn't been shaken like that in ages. She couldn't remember the last time someone had made her that frightened. She wasn't afraid of Kay, he was too young and too new to his powers to pose a threat to her or Merlin, at least magically. And she was fairly confident that because he was so new she could easily beat him in a swordfight. But if he did say something, who knew what could happen?

While Arthur was less of a pig headed idiot than Uther had been, that didn't mean that he wouldn't listen to a knight over a servant. He would hear them equally. But, her fear, along with Merlin's, was that if someone did indeed spell the magic beans about Merlin, someone may put two and two together. While Arthur, though he wouldn't admit it, would be more likely to listen to Merlin than Kay (if for nothing else than to keep his wife and sister happy) and while she personally thought Arthur wasn't clever to enough and was oblivious enough to think Kay would obviously be wrong about Merlin, others such as Gwen for example weren't quite so dense. And that was their fear. Between Gaius, her and Kay too many people knew about Merlin already, the more found out the angrier Arthur would be when he found out, then the more heartbroken Merlin would be when it became time for the inevitable backlash.

Morgana frowned. Something wasn't right. Kay was a sweet if shy kid, nervous and scared, not dark and bitter, that had been her forte. No, something had happened to him last night, something had got to him to make him like this. And she couldn't take the risk that he would tell about Merlin, she'd come too far to lose Merlin now because of something like this.

Glowering at Kay's door as if it had done her a personal wrong, she swept away to get Gaius to look at the burn Kay had made on her arm, and then to find Merlin.

And as the princess swept away from the door, Alvarr, having been unceremoniously stashed in the cupboard by Kay when Morgana had tried to come in, edged out of Kay's room, grinning triumphantly.

Everything was going according to plan.

XX

"Kay did this?" Gaius asked in surprise as he tended to the burn he had created on Morgana's wrist.

"Yes. Something's wrong with him Gaius, he wasn't like this yesterday, I think someone got to him." She said darkly as he finished wrapping her wrist in a bandage.

"Yes but who? It makes sense that someone powerful is trying to get their hands on Kay seeing as how rare latent sorcerers are even when Uther isn't killing them, but who could have got to Kay in the middle of Camelot?" he asked and she shrugged.

"I don't know. But the way he seemed this morning he could expose Merlin and I refuse to let that happen. See you later Gaius." She said as she swept out to find Merlin while Gaius frowned worriedly in his chambers.

Morgana headed for the training field where she could see Merlin observing the training with the knights, where Kay was currently battling Arthur. Forcing down the feeling of worry in her stomach that he might try and harm Arthur (she didn't believe he would) she nonetheless hurried down the stairs to the training yard to see Merlin and Gareth conversing, Gareth picking apart Arthur's technique to Merlin's great delight.

"Merlin we need to talk." She said, smiling in greeting at Gareth.

"Sure, what's up?" he asked as she dragged him off to the side, Morgana not quite liking the knowing grin on Gareth's face. Deciding she would deal with him after the current crisis was over, she showed him her wrist and his eyes widened in alarm.

"Who did this?" he demanded angrily, and she had to admit, it was quite nice seeing her get angry on her behalf.

"Kay." She said darkly and his eyes flashed in anger.

"Kay did it? What the hell did he do that for?" he growled angrily and she frowned.

"That's the thing I don't know. He's become a lot darker all of a sudden Merlin, extolling the virtues of using his magic, angry, bitter and reckless. Something's happened to him Merlin." She said worriedly, and Merlin had to agree, Kay suddenly having such a change in personality, along with branding his girlfriend seemed to indicate that something very bad had happened to Kay overnight.

"We should never have let him go when he was so anxious. Hang on, didn't you say he couldn't turn to the dark side overnight?" he hissed and she scowled.

"I stand corrected. Merlin, I don't know if he's enchanted, overwhelmed, angry or just plain crazy but we need to deal with this before he opens his trap and gets us all into trouble. You need to talk to him." She said, and he frowned.

"Alright, maybe we shouldn't have just let him go last night but that doesn't explain his sudden role reversal. Why's he changed so suddenly, what happened to him last night?" he asked curiously, and she nodded over at Tristan who was talking with Lucan.

"He went to the tavern apparently, but kept away from the others. But if you're thinking he's hungover I doubt it, he seems fresh as a daisy, besides he's giving Arthur a run for his money, look." She said, pointing to where Arthur and Kay were still training, and Merlin could see that while Kay's style was unorthodox, he was truly a master at it, as it was messing up Arthur who was a much older and much more experienced swordsman. His reversed grip was making it hard for Arthur to use most of his normal attacks, but Merlin could tell the king was enjoying this. Figuring he himself was in more danger than Arthur, he and Morgana headed over to Tristan, Morgana determinedly avoiding the grin on Gareth's face, and judging by the slightly nervous and guilty expression on Merlin's he too had noticed Gareth's uncalled for delight.

"Tristan, can we have a word?" Morgana asked and the former smuggler nodded, leaving Lucan to polish both their swords. Smirking at the dirty but affectionate look the young man gave Merlin, he turned to Tristan and narrowed his eyes.

"What's up?" he asked curiously and Merlin ploughed right in, the thought of losing another neophyte sorcerer to darkness was not one that was sitting well with him, especially when said sorcerer was busy training against the once and future king. Besides, Kay was a good kid, he knew he was, he was just scared (or so they had thought), and all of this didn't make sense. And he seriously believed that once he came to accept what he was, he would be more than willing to learn. And this time, Merlin wasn't going push someone away who needed help because this time they might not get so lucky.

"Did Kay seem alright to you when you saw him in the tavern last night?" Merlin asked, and Tristan frowned.

"He seemed a bit worked up when he came in, we didn't even notice him until later. We thought it best to leave him alone until he cooled down, and by that time he was talking to some other guy." He recounted, and Merlin and Morgana exchanged a nervous look, there was no telling who the person Kay was talking to could have been.

"This other guy, what did he look like?" Merlin asked desperately and Tristan frowned.

"Why are you pair so worried? I know he's a kid but he proved he can take care of himself." He said defensively, but Morgana shook her head.

"Tristan we know he can defend himself, what bothers us is that guy might have been up to something. Everyone's heard about Kay now, and he's the youngest knight Camelot's had since Arthur became one, which to many people will mean that he is young and impressionable. And while I'm sure Kay isn't stupid enough to fall for anything," she said smoothly in response to the angry look Merlin was giving her, "we're afraid that if there is indeed someone like that around they might try and use him to their advantage and might not stop if he doesn't listen." She finished and Tristan seemed to accept this, frowning as he recalled the man from the night before.

"He was quite tall. Thin too, but he still had the look of a fairly well trained warrior about him, but one who doesn't have regular meals, you can tell that sort of thing. Blue eyes, long brownish blond hair, a goatee, seemed quite bright as far as we could tell. And we was there before we got there, had the entire bar enraptured by whatever he was saying, charismatic I think is the word." He recounted and while Merlin looked puzzled, Morgana suddenly seemed very tense.

"Morgana?" Merlin asked hesitantly, seeing the calculating look on her face and the growing alarm in her eyes.

"It makes sense, if anyone was still out there and able to do it, it would be him, he vanished after that. Tristan, is this the man you saw?" she asked worriedly, and conjured a face with magic, and Merlin's jaw dropped, impressed by the beauty of the spell and the accuracy.

"That's him, how on earth did you know that?" Tristan demanded and Morgana swore while Merlin looked at her in shock.

"Alvarr?" he demanded incredulously, and Morgana nodded.

"Think about it, if anyone out there was still dedicated enough, crazy enough and powerful enough to pose a threat to Camelot, it would be him. And we already know someone is getting in and out of Camelot and is proficient in magic, it makes sense. Tristan, sound the warning bell!" Morgana ordered and as the knight ran off she and Merlin dashed over to Arthur and Kay's sparring match.

"Arthur, stop!" Merlin shouted, and Arthur easily blocked Kay's swing and turned to Merlin irritably.

"Is this you volunteering to be a practice dummy Merlin? You know better than to interrupt when I'm training." He scolded and Merlin rolled his eyes.

"Yeah like I would want to otherwise. We have a problem." He said and Arthur frowned, not noticing the resentful look that Kay was giving his manservant.

"What sort of problem?" Arthur asked patiently and Morgana recreated the image of Alvarr, and Kay's face went pale behind Arthur as he beheld the image.

"Alvarr is in Camelot, I've told Tristan to sound the warning bell. We need to find him, there's no telling what he might be capable of now." She warned and Arthur nodded, looking nervous.

"No kidding, but what the hell is Alvarr doing here? He has to know we're still after him since he escaped us last time, no thanks to you." Arthur pointed out and Morgana glared.

"He won't care about that, Alvarr managed to get into the citadel once before without any help he can do it quite easily again. We think he's here for Kay." Morgana said, hating herself and Kay's eyes widened in alarm and he shot her a look of betrayal.

"What? No, sire, I swear, I've never seen this man in my life!" Kay protested, but Merlin saw that Kay wasn't quite looking at Arthur. He grinned slightly, the kid was too young and innocent to be an accomplished liar yet, he had a tell.

"Kay, I'm sure Morgana has a very good reason for accusing one of my knights." Arthur said with a hint of warning and Morgana, who hadn't thought that far ahead, quickly cast around for an excuse but Merlin got there faster.

"Well it's obvious. Everyone in the kingdom is talking about how he saved you from the Hassassin. Everyone knows you made him a knight. Everyone also knows how young he is. Some people think that that's handy, makes them impressionable, susceptible to manipulation. I don't believe for a second that Kay would betray you," he said, and Kay's hostile glare softened a little, thanks flitting in his eyes, "but Alvarr is a known enemy of Camelot, and a knight would make a brilliant agent, that's probably what he's thinking."

Arthur frowned and nodded, then saw Leon and the others run towards him as the bells started to ring.

"Alright. Elyan, find your sister, take Alymere with you and protect her. Gareth, Leon, take Kay back to his room." Arthur said and Kay looked at him in alarm.

"What, sire, please, I can help!" he protested urgently, and Arthur smiled.

"I know you can. But believe me, I've fought Alvarr and he's no pushover. You'll be safer in your room." He said, but Kay still looked angry. Fearing Kay would get himself into trouble, if not reveal themselves, Merlin dragged Arthur slightly away from the group as Elyan and Alymere ran off to find Gwen.

"Look Merlin, I know you like him but..."

"Listen okay? Maybe...we can use him to help." Merlin said quietly, and Arthur looked at him incredulously.

"Merlin you remember what Alvarr's capable of right? And you want me to send my newest knight, my youngest knight, up against him when he hasn't even been fully trained yet? I'd be sending him to his death!" Arthur hissed as Leon gave the other knights orders, while Morgana kept an eye on a mutinous looking Kay.

"Make sure he doesn't die. We know Alvarr's here for Kay. Seems logical to me that eventually he'll go looking for him." Merlin said suggestively, and Arthur, who had opened his mouth to retort, then stopped short and grinned.

"You know Merlin, that isn't that bad an idea. You're becoming quite the tactician." He said, not fully mocking, there was definitely some respect and pride in his voice and Merlin grinned.

"Look at the teacher I've had." He said with a grin and Arthur nodded.

"Yeah, I've done well to get it through your thick skull." He said teasingly and Merlin shook his head.

"You? You've taught me nothing, I meant Leon." He retorted cockily and Arthur grinned and swatted at him, forcing him to duck.

"Merlin, strange though it sounds, has had an idea. Kay, go back to your room and wait for Alvarr to come to you. Leon, you and Gareth wait at one end of his corridor, and get Percival and Gwaine back and they can wait at the other." He ordered and Leon nodded and ran after the others.

"You're using me as bait?" Kay asked in surprise and Arthur nodded.

"Provided you don't have a problem with it, yeah. You alright?" he asked kindly and Kay nodded, smiling a little.

"No, sounds alright to me." He said and sent a thankful look in Merlin's direction.

"Alright, let's get started. We've got a dangerous sorcerer to catch." Arthur said but Morgana held his arm.

"I'll go with Leon and keep an eye on things. If Alvarr attacks he won't be expecting me." She said, and although he looked concerned, Arthur reluctantly nodded.

"Alright, be careful." He said as they all headed off for Kay's rooms, leaving a worried looking Arthur and Merlin behind.

XX

Alvarr swore as he ducked into another corridor. This was getting ridiculous. Ever since the warning bells had blared out over the city this morning, he'd never had a moments peace. The boy wouldn't have given him up, he was sure of that. That could only mean Merlin and his whore were the ones behind this, they were the ones who had discovered his presence. Perhaps he'd turned Kay too well, the boy hadn't yet learned the art of subtlety, otherwise he would have been more restrained in his confrontation with Morgana. Alvarr cursed. The entire city had become a rat's nest, and he was running out of time in which to twist Kay against Merlin and Morgana. And the thought of failing Nimueh was not an entertaining one, she would be furious if he failed and would exact retribution against him in short order. He could not fail to do this.

But unless he did something soon, he was going to be captured, and then he would be imprisoned within the dungeons again, and he doubted Morgana would let him escape this time, and there was no way Nimueh would risk either of her agents for him. Bolting into a room to avoid the clunking approach of more guards, he sighed in relief as they passed the door and found what he was looking for, a mirror.

Quickly casting a spell in a low voice, he breathed a sigh of relief as Nimueh appeared before him, looking irritable.

"What is it Alvarr, I'm busy." She snapped and he bowed to her respectfully.

"I apologise for the disruption my lady but I am discovered. I need help." He said pleadingly and she sent him an angry look.

"How did you manage to become discovered Alvarr? You were meant to be securing for me the loyalty of the latent sorcerer." She growled and he bowed apologetically.

"I am still endeavouring to do so my lady, but I need something to distract the knights and more importantly Emrys and the false priestess while I see to the boy. Do you have any suggestions?" he asked and, while still looking annoyed, she did frown thoughtfully, and then an idea came to her, making her face light up with anticipation.

"Actually yes. Repeat after me Alvarr. And be sure to not fail me, you will not enjoy the consequences." Nimueh warned and he gulped.

But as he learned what the spell she was teaching him was, he didn't care anymore. After all, even the mighty knights of Camelot would be unable to stop this threat.

**A very belated Happy new Year to you all!**

**First of all I cant apologise enough for the massive break in between chapters, what with writing my other stories and my dissertation this chapter took so much longer than it was meant to, but it turns out i was writing two chapters at once anyway. So, I'll say no more here, just apologise some more, and post this chapter, and the second one will be up in a second with my usual writer's drivel!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin (to my ever lasting regret)**

A Camelot Calamity

"Merlin will you relax?" Arthur chided slightly as Merlin continued to pace his room.

"Easy for you to say. All you're doing is sitting there." He said nervously and Gwen smiled, holding up her hand before they started bickering again.

"Merlin, we know you're fond of Kay but he'll be fine. The entire citadel is on high alert, the city's closed off and he's protected by four of the best knights we have, he'll be fine. And he can take care of himself." She said soothingly but Merlin wasn't soothed.

Ever since the alarm had gone up to find Alvarr, Merlin hadn't seen Kay, he had been whisked away to his quarters to wait for Alvarr, and Arthur (who would fervently deny that he was just being overprotective of Merlin by keeping him close, because of course he wasn't (Gwen and Merlin knew otherwise but they weren't going to call him on it)) had kept Merlin busy and now he was looking out over the city.

"I've told you before I don't like just sitting here waiting for something to happen." Merlin said as he picked up another piece of spare armour, which he was now becoming convinced Arthur was leaving around the room to give him something to do.

"I know Merlin, but all we need to do is wait for Alvarr to make his move. And we know he's still in the city somewhere we just need to find him." Arthur said, his voice quite soothing for a change.

"I just don't like the idea of using Kay as bait." Merlin said and Gwen raised an eyebrow.

"It was your idea Merlin." She reminded him and Merlin scowled and pointed at Arthur.

"He never normally listens to my ideas, and the one time he does actually listen, the one time I say something he actually pays attention to, its a crap idea!" he protested and Arthur quickly turned away from Gwen as they both hid their smiles, but Merlin saw them anyway and gave a long suffering groan as he pulled things out from under the bed, cursing as he pulled out the contents.

"Arthur, I'm not against you wearing Gwen's clothes but would it kill you to put them in the washing basket?" he demanded and Arthur went red as Merlin put some of Gwen's underclothes in the basket, and Gwen turned expectantly to Merlin, a wicked grin on her face.

"Something you want to tell me Arthur?" she asked sweetly and Arthur looked furiously at Merlin who was grinning triumphantly.

"No, don't listen to him, he kicks them under there so he doesn't need to pick them up, its not my fault!" he protested and Gwen nodded.

"Of course not dear." She said placatingly, still smiling at Merlin.

Arthur turned around, determinedly avoiding the other two's gaze, and then frowned.

"What the hell?" he asked grimly as he saw people running through the city streets in terror.

"What is it?" Merlin asked nervously, coming to his side.

"What are they?" Arthur asked worriedly and Merlin peered out into the dark city streets, and was about to use magic to enhance his vision when a lantern was knocked over, sending the area into flame and revealing why the people were running terrified towards the citadel.

Birds. Not just anything little like chickens, these things were taller than Percival, bulkier than a horse and looked a hell of a lot more ferocious than a questing beast. Looking like a very overgrown, bulky and nasty form of a turkey, it had a bald, ugly head, ferocious yellow eyes, long, dangerous legs with lethal claws and a sharp thick beak that looked murderous. People were running screaming for the citadel and Merlin went paler than usual as he saw them all. There was around a dozen of them, and they were all speeding in towards the castle.

"Sound the warning bell!" Arthur bellowed, wondering what the hell those bird things were.

Screams were now entering the courtyard, these birds not far behind. Arthur picked up Excalibur and ran for the door, Merlin close on his heels, while Gwen, upon seeing what they were dealing with, swore and headed to the room that was always used as a makeshift infirmary, Gaius would need her help.

And as the terror birds, the adar llwch gwin, attacked the city, slaughtering as they went, Alvarr smiled and slipped out of the room he had been hiding in and went in pursuit of Kay. With everyone now bothered by the birds he had summoned, his path to the boy would be clear, and the traitor within Camelot was making sure everyone else was out of the way for him. And with Merlin off protecting his beloved king, all he would have to do is deal with a few knights, and the sorceress. And he was more than capable of dealing with that traitor.

Smirking, he drew his sword. The forty eight hours was nearly up.

And the boy would be his, one way or another.

XX

Arthur ducked away from the sharp lethal beak of the bird, while Gwaine swung a torch at it to keep it at bay.

"What the hell are these things?" Gwaine demanded as another one leapt over the makeshift barricade of overturned carts they had made and ripped apart two guards.

Percival then appeared out of nowhere, Lucan following him as a shadow, both of their swords going for a killing stroke. However, both thudded against the birds skin, and all it did was give a terrible cry before pecking Percival's shoulder and Lucan's stomach, sending them both screaming to the ground.

"We can't kill these things!" Alymere yelled as another bird dashed into the balustrade, determined to break through and a second later the wood splintered, forcing Alymere to back away.

Arthur was pinned by one ferocious scraggly looking bird, the bird giving a terrible echoing screech as it tried to peck a hole in Arthur's chest. Merlin then appeared, brandishing a spear at it, forcing the beast to caw in fury and try to attack Merlin instead. Arthur however swung Excalibur and the beast gave a piteous moan as its head came flying off, landing with a thud as blood geysered over the area. Arthur gently pushed a bloodied Merlin back towards Percival and Lucan as he beheld the damage the birds were causing.

There had been twelve overall, and so far the one he had just made a head shorter was the only one they had killed. Several of the peasants had been slaughtered, their bodies ripped open, blood and guts spilling over the streets. Guards had been brutally savaged by the creatures, never standing a chance against the unholy beasts. The birds echoing cries were piercing the night, as were screams of terror and cries of pain as yet another bird leapt over their makeshift fortification and savaged another guard. Percival and Lucan were injured, Dagonet and Safer were both missing, Leon and Gareth were with Kay, though Arthur had had to order Kay to stay where he was to try and lure out Alvarr (it was fairly obvious that this attack was nothing more than an elaborate distraction) and the injured were piling up, with Gwen and Gaius being unable to keep up with the demand.

"Arthur, we need to get them inside!" Merlin shouted worriedly and Arthur nodded.

"Alright. Gwaine, hold the line!" he barked, hoisting Percival up and supporting him towards the door.

"Easy for you to stay! Get back you ugly bugger!" Gwaine yelled poking a bird in the beak with his sword, but all it served to do was tick it off and he had to duck to avoid the bird.

As the remainder of the knights and guards rallied behind Gwaine, Arthur and Merlin carried Percival and Lucan into the large hall they were using to deal with the wounded, to see Gwen and Gaius working frantically to save lives. Setting down Percival, who wasn't in as much danger as Lucan, Arthur turned to Gwen who immediately ran to Lucan's side, and along with Merlin began to try and stop the bleeding.

Gaius came plodding over to Arthur, wincing as another scream went up from outside.

"Sire, I'm running low on supplies and the injured just keep coming. We need to force these birds off." He explained and Arthur nodded as Merlin came over.

"Do you have any idea what they are Gaius, or more importantly how to kill them?" he asked and Gaius nodded grimly.

"They are known as the adar llwch gwin, sire, terror birds to most. They were once harmless birds like chickens and turkeys that were infused with powerful dark magic, twisting them and warping them into the monsters that are now attacking the citadel. They are extremely durable, extremely lethal. The high priestesses and priests of the old religion would use them in wars, they would send these beasts to attack towns and cities, to weaken them in preparation for a further attack." Gaius explained and Arthur scowled.

"And now Alvarr had set them loose on us all." He cursed, and Gaius sent a dark look at Merlin who looked at him curiously.

"I do not believe so sire. While quite powerful in his own right, Alvarr shouldn't have the power to summon these beasts, well, the knowledge at least. The knowledge of how to warp birds into terror birds was known to only high priests and priestesses, and Alvarr is not one." He explained and Merlin frowned.

"Meaning someone else is behind this attack, Alvarr's working for someone. Great." He said with false cheer, and Arthur winced as a window shattered due to the pitch of a bird's cries.

"Alright, we'll worry about that later. How do I kill the damn things? The other knights have been stabbing them and so far all they've done is manage to annoy them! I've only killed one and there's still eleven more out there." He said bitterly and Gaius nodded.

"I'm not surprised sire. They are twisted and enchanted with dark magic, they will not be killed by any mere sword. Your sword, special as it is, will kill them but the other knights will have no such luck." He warned and Arthur swore.

"Gaius, I need some other way to kill them, I can't kill them all myself!" he protested and Merlin looked at him musingly.

"The only other way we might be able to kill them is with Morgana, her powers might let her kill them." He suggested and Arthur nodded.

"Alright, it's worth a try. We'll go and get..." Arthur said, looking up as Leon, Gareth and Kay entered the hall, all of them scraped and bruised.

"Sire, we have a problem. The damn things can climb the walls." Leon explained, and Arthur's eyes widened in alarm just as a clawing sound echoed through the now silent chamber and a bird leapt into the infirmary.

"Arthur!" Leon cried as the bird went straight for him, but before the bird could go anywhere, a bolt of lightning lanced across the room, blasting the creature in the chest, forcing it into a vicious wail before it exploded, swirling magic descending to the floor and out of sight as it did so.

"Thanks sis." Arthur said in relief as Morgana appeared, looking worse for wear.

"Your barricade isn't going to last much longer, Gwaine can't keep it up, and if those things get in here it will be carnage." She told him tersely.

Arthur frowned as Gaius took a look around the room, brow furrowed as he did so.

"Sire, I need more supplies as well, I don't have enough left to keep treating the wounded." He explained and an exhausted looking Gwen appeared looking miserable.

"All this because of one sorcerer, a sorcerer we can't even find I might add." She said darkly and Morgana nodded.

"True. Alvarr has to be around here somewhere, he's just waiting for the worst possible moment I think." She said as another scream came through the broken windows and a bloodied, ripped apart body was slung through the window.

Arthur exchanged a look with Merlin, who gave him a small nod, and Arthur turned to the others.

"Alright. Kay, Gareth, escort Merlin to Gaius' quarters to get supplies then come back here. Morgana, you stay with us, help us ward off those bloody birds. The rest of you, on me, we're going to get Gwaine in here, close the doors as far as possible and force the birds into a bottle neck." He explained and they all nodded.

"What about Alvarr?" Kay asked hesitantly, and Arthur shook his head.

"We have more immediate worries. Gwen, Gaius, shut the doors behind us. These things aren't getting in here, I promise. Merlin, go." Arthur ordered and Merlin scampered out of the room, Gareth and Kay hot on his heels.

"This is all my fault, he's here for me." Kay moaned as they made their way through the castle.

"No it isn't, it wouldn't be the first time one of us has made an error in judgement and Camelot's gotten the worst of it. We'll find him and stop him don't worry." Merlin assured him as they went past two dead guards, brutally savaged by one of the birds.

"It'll be alright Kay, and look on the bright side, an all powerful sorceress is on our side now, it'll be fine." Gareth told him, but Kay, and Merlin to be fair, didn't look convinced.

Morgana was very powerful yes, and she had proved she could kill the birds, but if Gaius was right, and he had every reason to suspect he was, someone more powerful than Alvarr was pulling the strings. What if they showed up? And besides, Merlin was in love with her, he was allowed to be worried about her.

A terrible cry then pierced the darkness of the corridor and a pair of narrowed, evil, yellow eyes appeared at the end of the corridor just as the last torch spluttered out. Gareth and Kay readied their swords, and Merlin raised his hand. They didn't have time for this, Gaius needed supplies, and they still had to find Alvarr, and he had to get back before Arthur and Morgana managed to get themselves killed.

The bird gave a massive cry and then charged at them, the moon highlighting the evil creature's feathers. It gave a sharp swipe of its beak at Gareth, and he gasped in surprise as he was knocked off his feet. However, the corridor was narrow and Kay then slashed up, slicing a large chunk out of its face, making the beast howl in pain and bring back its head to peck out Kay's brain. Merlin winced and hoping for the best, blasted a fireball right into the bird, smiling smugly as the bird exploded. In the lingering light of the fire, he saw that Gareth had passed out, bleeding heavily from his leg. Cursing, Merlin ripped off some of Gareth's cloak and tied it tightly around the wound.

"What now?" Kay asked worriedly, helping Merlin lift Gareth up.

"We get him to safety and get Gaius' medical supplies. Then we try and end this by finding Alvarr." Merlin said, hobbling along supporting Gareth's weight.

"Merlin...I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen, I should never have listened to Alvarr. He just made it sound so much better to be a sorcerer, he didn't make me feel afraid, he made me think it was a good thing, I shouldn't have listened to him. I'm sorry." Kay said in a defeated voice and Merlin gave him a commiserating look.

"It's alright Kay, older and wiser people than you have been hoodwinked, Alvarr got his claws into Morgana once as well. I know you wouldn't really expose me." He said and Kay cheered up slightly as they reached Gaius chambers.

Setting Gareth down on the bed, Merlin quickly assembled what he needed into his own medicine bag and then began to check Gareth's wound. Sure that the bandage was fairly tight, Merlin began treating it as Kay stood watch as another scream bellowed down the corridor.

"Merlin, do you think the others will be alright dealing with those things?" Kay asked and he smiled across at his protégé.

"They'll be fine. We've all dealt with a lot worse than bad tempered overgrown turkeys. Trust me." He said, and nodded in approval, Gareth would be fine. Frowning, he considered what to do with him, there was no point taking him back to the infirmary, he would probably be safer here anyway. Gesturing, he levitated Gareth up to his own bed out of harm's way and went to check on him, leaving Kay to pick up the medicine bag so they could return to the infirmary.

Kay shook his head. No matter what Merlin said this was all still his fault. How could he have been so stupid as to listen to Alvarr? He was clearly bad news and he had listened to him, allowed him to twist him against his friends, the ones who really did like him being around, who wanted to help guide his magic, and not someone who was just trying to use it. Because it was obvious that that's what Alvarr was up to, he wanted Kay for his own, that's why he'd spent so long last night filling Kay's head with nonsense, making him believe that it was Merlin and Morgana who wanted to use him when it had been him all along. Kay frowned as he looked at his hand. He had power, he knew that. He also knew that he didn't particularly want it. But Alvarr had convinced him that he did. If he could be so easily manipulated, what did that say about him? He was too dangerous to allow himself to be deceived like that.

Merlin and Morgana seemed to care. They wanted to help, or so they said. But how did he know they weren't trying to use his powers for their own gain too, just like Alvarr was? Kay frowned, shaking his head. This was all so confusing. There were things he could do with his powers, the powers he didn't want, to make Camelot a better and safer place. He could right the wrongs of the kingdom, and Alvarr, despite what he had done with the terror birds, had seemed fairly legitimate in saying he wanted to harness Kay's power. But the terror birds showed just what was wrong with magic. Morgana for example had been nearly completely lost to darkness and it was only the presence of a little dragon and a bit of faith on hers and her brother's part that had ensured that she wasn't still trying to kill everyone she could get her hands on. It was corrupting, and he didn't want any part of it. Simply because someone who seemed more versed in it had come along he had been more than willing to ignore Merlin and Morgana and listen to Alvarr. How could he have a power like this and not be corrupted?

But on the other hand was Merlin, who didn't seem capable of killing anyone he was too nice. So was magic the corrupting power he thought? Were people like Alvarr just evil to start with? Or was Alvarr right and were Morgana and Merlin the true problem? As he pondered this, Merlin came back down the stairs, stopping as he reached the door.

"Kay!" he gasped and Kay twirled, sword grinding out from his scabbard as Alvarr stalked towards them, a devilish grin on his face as he entered Gaius' chambers, sword at the ready.

"The great Emrys. Ever since I learned of who you truly were, I've been waiting to meet you in person. And now here we are. I must say, you're not much to look at." Alvarr sneered and Merlin glowered at him.

"I could say the same about you Alvarr. Now, back away from Kay." He growled warningly and Alvarr smiled, giving Merlin and Kay a smug look.

"I think not Emrys. Surely you can feel the indecision raging inside him, he doesn't know which way to turn. The boy will be coming with me, and nothing you can do will stop it." He promised and Kay shook his head.

"I don't think so somehow. You've set a bunch of terror birds loose on Camelot and you want me to go with you? You're mental, you're attacking people I care about to get what you want." Kay spat and Alvarr smiled.

"Hardly." He said, and quickly blasted a surprised Merlin back into the wall and the sorcerer collapsed to the bottom of the stairs in a heap, not moving.

"Merlin!"

"That's attacking people you care about. Now Kay, listen to me. Do you really want to spend your life in the shadows, forced to hide who and what you are? I know you're meant for better than that. You have great power my boy, power you can use to change things. Imagine how many people would still be alive if you and Merlin had been able to use your powers from the outset, the birds wouldn't have been able to kill anyone. Your magic is a gift, my boy, but not one that should be hidden in the shadows. It is high time things changed in Camelot and you will be able to do that! Come, join me. Come with me, and I will show you the true meaning of your powers. You are a powerful sorcerer Kay, stronger than any man in Camelot barring Emrys. And I know the power calls to me. You're confused and overwhelmed I can understand that. But I can help you, guide you, let you accept your powers. Merlin and Morgana want to use you for their own ends, to alleviate their own burdens. They wish to keep you subdued and controlled and I know you're better than that. Come Kay, join me." Alvarr said earnestly, and Kay had to admit, it did sound good.

But then he looked at Merlin, who was still out cold. Merlin, who had revealed his secret to him, trusted him and tutored him. He thought of Morgana, who better than anyone could relate to him, who was kind and encouraging while also acknowledging how he felt. And then Alvarr, who was happily threatening Merlin, had set terror birds loose on Camelot in order to get his hands on Kay.

Kay scowled. He wasn't like Alvarr. He had magic, yeah. He didn't particularly want it, like Morgana hadn't. But unlike her, he had people who genuinely cared, Merlin and Morgana. If he went with Alvarr now, he would only end up like him, like Morgana had been. How long would it be before he was summoning monsters to attack Camelot, using dark magic to try and kill all his friends? Since he'd become a knight, he'd befriended Arthur, Merlin, Morgana, Gwen, Gwaine, Percival and most of the other knights, and sorcerer or not, he was not going to turn on them just because it suited Alvarr. No way.

"You expect me to join you when you're attacking my friends?" he sneered and Alvarr glowered.

"No, I expect you to join me regardless. Because if not, I'll kill Merlin here and now." He threatened, conjuring a fireball, and Kay gulped. Merlin was still unconscious, and there was no way Kay would be able to defend him. Alvarr would kill him on the spot. Without Merlin, Morgana could easily fall back into darkness. Arthur would be devastated, as would Gwen, not to mention Gaius. Camelot would spiral out of control. He didn't have a choice.

"Fine. Just don't hurt him." He growled and Alvarr smiled, and began dragging him from the room, forcing him to leave his sword behind. As soon as he could, he was going to deal with Alvarr. And as such, as the sorcerer dragged him through the corridor, he began to consider how he could get out of this one.

XX

Morgana swung, compensating for where Arthur was striking, the two of them working in unison to force the beasts back from the door. Safer and Dagonet had finally appeared and were forcing another bird away from the door, while Gwaine and Elyan tried their hardest to impale a further bird. Inside the infirmary, Gwen, armed with a sword of her own and backed up by a weakened Percival, Tristan and Alymere was trying to force the two birds that had broken in since Arthur had sealed them in, while Gaius desperately tried to get his patients away from the terror birds. Their horrible cries piercing the air, the one closest to Arthur pecked down at him, but Morgana blew it into the air with a well placed spell, and as it fell screeching back down to earth it became impaled upon Excalibur. Arthur grinned at his sister, who gave him a fleeting one in return before a scream from the infirmary jolted both of them back to reality. Gesturing at the doors, Morgana ripped them open to see Alymere rush to defend Gaius, who was about to be skewered by one of the attacking birds. Morgana sent a bolt of lightning into the bird, making it explode, and drawing the attention of the final one. The bird then abandoned the fight and charged towards Morgana, but a further bolt eradicated the bird.

Sealing the doors shut after Tristan and Alymere joined them, Morgana turned to Arthur.

"We can't keep this up Arthur. These things are vicious and unless we stop them soon they'll overrun the castle." She said darkly and Tristan nodded.

"She's right sire. There's six of the damn things out there, and we don't know if any others are still in the castle, we need to re-evaluate our position." He said grimly as Leon, after poking the lead bird with a lance, slammed the front doors shut to give them a minute's reprieve.

"Alright, everyone on me, we force them into the middle of the courtyard, then Morgana and I can pick them off one by one." Arthur said and the knights nodded, but as Morgana made to follow her brother, she heard someone cry her name weakly. Turning, she saw no sign of anyone and frowned, focusing more on the voice.

"_Morgana..._" the voice was in her head, and her eyes widened in realisation as she realised that it was Merlin calling her name.

Concentrating (telepathy had never been her strong suit) she found him, weakly getting to his feet in Gaius' chambers, with no sign of Gareth or Kay in sight.

"_Merlin, what happened?_"

"_Alvarr ambushed me, I think he's taken Kay. Gareth's waking up, I'll send him to Gaius with supplies, then I'm going after Alvarr. He's going up for some reason._" Merlin sounded confused, and Morgana briefly pondered why that could be, and then it clicked.

"_However Alvarr got here, he mustn't be able to do the same thing to get back out. He's going up to avoid the battle he knows full well is going on at the front door. He'll try summoning one of the birds to him and escape that way. I'll meet you up there_!" she said, dropping the connection just as the door started to splinter.

"On three!" Arthur yelled, readying his sword as the other knights rallied behind him, their faces grim, grimy and determined.

Morgana then grasped his arm and pulled him away from the doors as a beak erupted through, but it was swiftly forced away as Tristan clanged it on the beak, making the beast squeal. Evil yellow eyes began glaring into the holes they had punctured in the doors, and iuf they didn't do something soon, the castle would soon be overrun by these beasts.

"I need to go after Alvarr." Morgana said and Arthur looked at her furiously.

"Morgana, are you mad? We've got these blasted monsters knocking on the front door and you want to chase down the damned sorcerer?" he hissed and she scowled.

"Not really, but if I stop him it might get rid of them. Just hold out, I'll be quick." She promised and she turned to dart up the corridor. Hissing, she used her sword to slice open the hem of her green dress and then ran for the stairs, while Arthur rolled his eyes. She had always driven his father mad with her propensity for cutting open dresses when she was attacked. Cursing the sorcerer's lousy timing, Arthur raised his sword into the air.

"On me!" he cried, and with a heave the doors were thrown open and the knights cascaded down the steps, their swords swinging and cutting at the birds, who simply cawed irritably in response before renewing their attack.

Morgana hurtled up the stairs, passing a pale looking Gareth, carrying medical supplies as she did so, and continued climbing the stairs, heading for the ramparts. As Gareth gaped after her stupidly, she heard another person's footfalls flying up the next corridor and she ran down into the next corridor and with great relief found a dazed looking Merlin rushing up the stairs with her.

"About time." Merlin said cattily and she glowered.

"I've been busy, protecting Arthur is your job. How did Alvarr get you?" she asked, looking in concern at the trickle of blood in his hair, she was going to force him to wear a helmet all the time she really was.

"He ambushed me while he was trying to work his words on Kay. I don't think he's gone with him willingly but he was still mixed up Morgana, and considering..."

"We're about an hour away from his choice defining his destiny I'd say we better shift quickly. Come on." She said, hurtling up the next flight of stairs, Merlin right behind her.

XX

Gaius forced Gareth down into a bed and turned nervously to the door where the sounds of battle were coming from. The few remaining guards had rallied behind their king and were now helping him force the birds back from the castle, but Gaius could tell what this battle was truly for, the battle for Kay's destiny. The birds were a distraction, an opportunity for Alvarr to try and get his claws into the lad. And now Merlin was missing. Alvarr must have taken Kay for Merlin to risk sending Gareth through a castle under attack in order to carry out his own task. But that meant Merlin, and now Morgana, were both heading into a battle with Alvarr, and they didn't know where Kay's loyalties were going to lie. Frowning in irritation and fear, Gaius prayed the boy would make the right choice.

XX

"Get off me!" Kay demanded, shoving Alvarr angrily as he pulled them out onto the ramparts of one of the towers.

"As you wish. Do what you like boy, but no matter what, you are coming with me, dead or alive." Alvarr promised, pointing his sword at Kay, but before the boy could respond, the door to the ramparts thudded open and Alvarr span to see an angry Merlin and Morgana appear, both of them glaring at him.

"Step away from him Alvarr." Merlin ground out, raising his hand warningly as Morgana did the same and raised her sword at the same time.

"Lady Morgana, it has been a while hasn't it? I'll just deal with this little whelp and be done with it, and then we can catch up on old times." He said with a charming voice, and Morgana glowered at him.

"No Alvarr, I've changed. Odd though it sounds, I believe in Arthur and the world he will build. And that doesn't include you getting your hands on Kay." She hissed and Alvarr smiled.

"Please my lady, this boy is nothing compared to you or your boyfriend there. Why bother with him, I'm just taking him off your hands." He purred, and Kay edged towards Merlin and Morgana slightly, trying to at least reach a weapon.

Alvarr then brought his sword up, blocking Kay's path.

"Leave him alone." Merlin ordered, his eyes flashing angrily as he did so, and Alvarr gave him a smug grin.

"I don't think so Emrys. You see, as I'm sure you know, this boy is a latent sorcerer. And as such, his allegiance is up for grabs, and I want it." He hissed, and Kay glared at him.

"And what makes you think I'm going to choose your side?" he demanded and Alvarr smiled.

"Oh but I do know my fine young sorcerer. I know how conflicted you must be, how confused. You are young and two powerful forces are vying for your loyalty. Why do you think I spent my time last night getting to know you? I know power calls to you, while you are terrified of your magic, of what you are, part of it calls to you as well. You want to use it to impose your wants, you want power boy, and I can give you that, join me!" he implored, and Kay looked between the two factions, Alvarr on one side and Merlin and Morgana on the other.

"Kay, don't do this, he wants to use you. Yeah you have to hide for now, but you will be free one day, and we'll help you. Don't listen to him." Merlin said, but did nothing else, he simply gave Morgana a look and she hesitantly pulled back slightly.

"They only seek to use you to alleviate their own problems, do not give in to them my boy. Your power calls to you, however much you deny it. Join me Kay, I can help you understand it, develop it, the power is yours, the power to do what you will, the power to impose your will, join me!" Alvarr urged, and Kay looked back at Merlin and Morgana and while Morgana looked nervous, Merlin simply looked at Kay and nodded, as if trusting him to do the right thing.

"Kay, come!" Alvarr snapped and Kay grinned at Merlin, enjoying the flash of triumph in the elder warlock's eyes.

"What, join you after you unleash terror birds on my home, try and kill my friends and manipulate me against the ones who actually do care about me? No way." Kay said defiantly, and suddenly everything shifted as Kay finally accepted what he was. Turning angrily, his eyes glowing gold, he anchored himself in his powers and they could feel the power raging around him. He then raised his hand and a hard ball of earth and mud came swirling into existence which he then blasted into a surprised Alvarr's chest, the heavy ball knocking the wind out of him as Kay firmly made his choice.

"Well done." Morgana said proudly, feeling magic shift around Kay as his magic for the first time gained some semblance of control, as destiny began to shape itself around him. He had made his choice and he was sticking with it.

"Least that explains why he couldn't master fire magic, he's an earth conjurer." Merlin mused proudly, but then tensed as Alvarr got back to his feet.

Alvarr got back to his feet and gestured, knocking Kay and Morgana off their feet. Merlin growled and conjured a whirlwind, sending it at Alvarr. Alvarr gave a leering grin in response, drawing his sword and using that and his flashing eyes to dissipate the wind. Alvarr then charged at Merlin, sword going for his neck. Kay was there in the next instant, blade coming up in his unorthodox grip and clanging into Alvarr's. Forcing him away from Merlin, Kay, eyes glowing, began to unleash a fine offensive on Alvarr as Morgana got back to her feet. Seeing this, Alvarr sent a bolt of ice flying at her but she shattered it with a gesture before flicking the shards back towards their owner. Alvarr growled as he was forced to back off in order to hold off her attack and Kay's. The two, working closely together, Morgana using magic and her sword, and Kay using his sword and magic began to force Alvarr back. Grinning as the two of them worked to defeat the sorcerer, Merlin ran to the edge of the ramparts, seeing the terror birds were still being fought, screams, blood and bodies marking the courtyard.

"Can you pair hold him?" Merlin cried as their swords clanged.

"For a while, what are you going to do?" Morgana asked, blocking Alvarr's attack, who grimaced, the young knight and the princess were adept at swordplay and at magic.

"What I do best...save Arthur." He said with a grin and conjured a ball of lightning, and making sure he couldn't be seen from below, he threw the ball of lightning down into the courtyard.

The ball plummeted into the centre of the milling throng of birds, forced into a circle by the knights going at them with spears. The ball exploded and jagged bolts erupted from the ball, destroying three more of the birds, leaving three. As the birds saw this, they gave terrible cries and started trying to push forward all the more, and Merlin risked a peek over the edge as Arthur and the others came into a wedge to try and bring an end to the beasts.

The birds called and pushed harder, making Merlin frown worriedly, the birds weren't stopping, and neither was Alvarr by the looks of it. Turning away from the edge and praying Arthur and the others would be alright, he turned back to the duel that was still unfolding.

Morgana and Kay were hammering away at Alvarr's defences, and it was clear that the sorcerer was tiring. Alvarr leapt onto the next segment of the battlements, blasting Morgana back as Kay fell on him with his sword, weapons clanging in the night air. Merlin ran to help Morgana up, firing a wreath of flame at Alvarr as he did so. Alvarr hissed, barely creating a shield to repel the attack and he grimaced as he was forced to block Kay's upwards cut.

Alvarr hissed and let loose a magical scream akin to what Morgana had done after Gaius had attacked Morgause, sending them all staggering, and with a further blast he sent them crashing into a heap at the top of the ramparts. Chuckling darkly, he then advanced upon them, sword poised and eyes glowing as he conjured several daggers.

"So falls the almighty Emrys, the false priestess and the foolish boy. I expected more of a challenge." He said smugly, and Merlin grinned cockily up at him.

"So did I." He said, bolting to his feet, as did the other two.

Kay ran at him, sword going right for his throat. Alvarr yelped in surprise, barely managing to stop the attack as Kay fell upon him, unleashing a string of heavy blows that forced Alvarr steadily back. With his attention elsewhere, Morgana seized control of the daggers he had conjured and threw them at Alvarr, forcing him to take up a defensive, weaving position as he was pushed further and further back, his attention divided. And that was when Merlin entered the battle, conjuring a fireball and wrapping it in jagged ice and continuing to throw such attacks at him, and with a cry, a dagger pierced Alvarr's shoulder, Kay took advantage and disarmed him and the last fireball blasted him in the chest, dropping Alvarr to the floor, and as he lay there groaning he suddenly felt two swords at his chest.

"It's over Alvarr, we've won." Morgana said with cold triumph, but Alvarr spat blood from his mouth as he glared up at her.

"You've won nothing Morgana Pendragon!" he hissed and with some words, he slammed his palm onto the ground he was lying on.

The entire ramparts suddenly swayed and Alvarr laughed madly as the ramparts swayed. Merlin looked around to see a large crack emanating from his palm, ripping along the ground and reaching the wall, before cracking the entire length of it, and his stomach plummeted.

"Move!" Merlin cried, but it was too late, and with a thunderous roar the rampart they were standing on fell from the castle, breaking as it fell, Alvarr cackling madly as they descended in a storm of falling masonry.

Merlin grabbed a hold of Morgana's hand and she quickly threw out a hand to catch Kay in her grip as the rubble toppled around them, thundering and roaring as it did so. Alvarr dove towards the ground where the birds were still fighting. Arthur looked up in time to see the masonry begin to fall with his best friend, sister and knight in the midst of it all and he ordered his men back as huge chunks of rock began to pound into the courtyard, destroying one more of the birds. Alvarr then gestured his eyes flashing and he slowed himself to a stop before landing gracefully. Seeing this, Gwaine looked desperately for a way to get to him, but as the rubble fell he was blocked, large bangs sounding as the rocks ploughed into the courtyard. Alvarr summoned a sword from a fallen guard to him and then leapt onto one of the two remaining birds, before gesturing for the other one to attack. As the bird ran forward and with the knights blocked off by the falling masonry, Alvarr quickly made good his escape on the back of a terror bird, creating a wall of fire as he escaped to prevent any pursuit. As the knights took cover from the falling masonry and the remaining bird which had miraculously escaped the falling stonework so far, Morgana, Merlin and Kay all joined their magic together, creating a swirling vortex of wind, forming it into a cushion of air that they bounced off of and rolled to the floor, just as the last jugged chunk of masonry plunged into the earth, punching right through the final terror bird in the process and, the entire courtyard still shaking and booms still going off in their ears, it appeared the battle was finally over.

"Are you guys alright?" Arthur asked loudly for the third time to the three who had fallen from the roof, as they hadn't heard him the first time.

"Yeah, it is a nice night isn't it?" Merlin asked in response and Arthur sagged wearily, his servant hardly listened to him anyway and now he was deaf on top of it.

Giving up talking to them as a bad job, Arthur shook his head as he looked around the courtyard. The entire place was a mess, a large chunk of the northern battlement was missing, and the terror birds had certainly killed over a hundred people, all in all this had not been a good night.

"What? Oh this is ridiculous!" Morgana snapped and her eyes flashed and with that, their hearing all went back to normal.

And it was with that that Gwen and the others came out, looking happy exhausted into the destroyed courtyard, dust and powder filling the air, and Merlin grinned as Gaius came out and hugged him.

"That was too close. I take it you found Alvarr." Arthur said to Morgana, who nodded.

"Kay had been chasing after him, and Merlin had been chasing him, I got there in time to help. I take it he ran for it?" she asked and Gwaine nodded, scowling.

"Yeah, we couldn't get to him after his little rock fall, he jumped on the last of those bloody birds and scarpered." He said grimly, and Tristan frowned.

"Something makes me think we haven't seen the last of him." He prophesised darkly, and Gwen sighed.

"I reckon you're right. But he's gone for now, so let's be thankful for that. Come on, we need to deal with the last of the wounded and collect the dead. And then we're going to have to try and figure out how the hell we're going to fix the ramparts." She said worriedly, looking at the large crater above them worriedly.

As the tired knights and guards headed inside the castle, many of them patting Morgana, Merlin and Kay proudly on the shoulder as they did so, both Merlin and Morgana turned to Kay, who was looking at them with embarrassment.

"I really am sorry guys, I should never have let him twist me. I didn't mean to say all that stuff to you this morning Morgana, or hurt you. I'm sorry." He said softly and Morgana smiled.

"You've more than made up for it. You defended Camelot, fought off Alvarr, helped to send him packing, and made your choice and stuck with it. We're proud of you." Morgana said kindly.

"Yeah, and now we know what you're capable of. So, do you still want to give up magic?" Merlin asked and Kay grinned.

"Not so much anymore. I don't think I'll ever really like it, true, but this showed me that while it is used a lot for evil, it can be used for good. And being able to conjure boulders with your bare hands is pretty cool. Will you guys still help me?" he asked hesitantly and Merlin grinned.

"We'd be delighted to." He promised and with that the three of them headed inside.

XX

"What word from Camelot, did my assassin succeed?" Odin asked his advisor, but the look on the man's face told him all he needed to know.

Could nothing kill Arthur? No one was that lucky, yet he seemed to avoid every assassin Odin sent for him. War was out of the question, especially now that he had his witch sister at his beck and call, there was no way to get to him so just what was he meant to do?

"No, he did not succeed Odin, king of Bernicia." A female voice said and Odin looked up in alarm to see his two guards clutching at their throats for air as a woman in a hooded blue cloak strolled in, her red dress visible just beneath it.

"Who are you? How dare you intrude upon my chambers?" Odin spat drawing his sword, but all she did was flick a finger at him and the sword clattered to the ground. Looking at the newcomer in fear, Odin watched as they pulled back their hood to reveal the face of Nimueh.

"Priestess Nimueh." He said with a much more respectful tone and she favoured him with a small smile.

"Greetings King Odin, it had been far too long." She said, striding towards him and he gallantly kissed her hand in greeting.

"We have not seen you since Uther began his purge my lady." He said, beckoning for her to take a seat at the table he used for discussions of a more personal nature, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed. His purge which you and all the other rulers like you happily joined in with. Do not think to lie to me Odin. You, Caerleon, Sarrum, Alined, Bayard, all of you were more than willing to join the traitor Uther in his bloodthirsty assault upon my kind. You are all equally to blame Odin, all equally fearful of that which you do not understand so do not presume to blame Uther alone, all of you are just as guilty in the demise of so many of my kin." She said dangerously and Odin wisely kept quiet until his curiosity would not be sated any longer.

"How do you know of the failure of my assassin lady Nimueh?"

"Because I have been watching Camelot for months now, and your assassin was killed by a boy who attracted my attention as he is a latent sorcerer. Your assassin nearly succeeded if it makes you feel any better, he didn't expect a young latent sorcerer joining the fight I suspect." She mused as she studied her nails and Odin seethed, furious that he had once again come so close to being outdone.

He had thought that his assassin taking down Uther would bring him some measure of victory, of triumph, of peace, but it had only served to annoy him further as he had been so close to taking out Arthur only to be foiled by a vegetable of a king who had hardly moved for a year. Typical, just his luck.

"Arthur must die! Only then will I be content." He growled, slamming his hand down on the table, and Nimueh smiled in a predatory fashion.

"And he will die Odin. Uther, before the treachery of his dear daughter, knew the truth. The forces of the Old Religion were rising against him once again, magic was returning to the world of men. And now, magic is poised to once more return to this world and undo the destruction wreaked by the birth of the Pendragon boy. I gave that little shit life, I can take it away just as easily." She said smugly and while that thought did please him, Odin couldn't help but feel a pit of worry in his stomach.

While he had disagreed with Uther on many things the one thing they could agree on was the presence of magic. Uther simply gave Odin and the other rulers of the lands the opportunity they needed to rid the world of magic users, who they had all agreed wielded too much power. The time had come for the dominion of men, not for magic and mystics. But if Nimueh truly did intent to bring back magic, all of that would be undone and they would lose the progress they had gained over the years.

"How do you intend to return magic to the world?" he asked nervously, and she smiled.

"What better way is there than to annihilate Camelot? The butcher may be gone but his son remains and his sister aside is no friend of the old religion. His faithful little pet Merlin cannot protect him forever, cannot truly be himself because of how they feel about magic, and that is the anvil upon which I will forge the hammer of Camelot's undoing. I have been preparing for some time Odin, the forces of the Old Religion are rallying behind their true high priestess. Soon now, we will be able to strike. I will take down the butcher's son, his servant queen, his pet warlock and his treacherous sister and Camelot will burn for all it had done to my kind." She said, but more than anything else one phrase struck Odin as curious.

"Arthur had a pet warlock?" he asked darkly and she nodded, scowling as she did so.

"He too is a traitor to his own kind, serving the butcher of his kin while lapping up whatever praise he is offered like the pathetic dog he is. And he is the problem. My own desire for revenge aside..." she hissed, but Odin caught across her.

"Revenge? Against a boy?" he asked, slightly mockingly and her eyes flashed in anger at his insinuation.

"That boy is the most powerful sorcerer in existence. And do not think to preach to me Odin. I have passed through the realm of the dead to return to this world and I will not be dismissed by a mere mortal such as you. When you pass into the realm of the dead, the long, endless wait to pass on, the pain you experience in your final moments, the cries of the dead, the wails of lost loved ones, the darkness of the other side, the throng of millions of spirits crushing at you, the never ending cycle of decay, death and despair, only then will I allow you to mock me for my death at the hands of a serving boy, even if he isn't a true serving boy and is in fact Emrys. And besides, being struck with lightning is not a pleasant way to go, it bloody hurts." She said tartly, but the menace and passion in her voice as she recounted her time in the world beyond made Odin wisely shut up.

"Apologies my lady. So this boy is the reason Arthur never falls, why Camelot may fall but its king does not. He is, I would say, a mutual enemy." He mused and she flashed him a predatory grin.

"Indeed he is Odin. Camelot will never truly fall while its king lives. And its king will never fall while he has the mindless, loving devotion and adoration of the mighty Emrys. Which brings us to my plan." She purred and Odin, despite himself, and despite the fact that he was sitting opposite the most dangerous woman in all the kingdoms, he couldn't help but be intrigued.

"So what does this plan involve my lady?" he asked cautiously and she smiled, her smile chilling him right down to the marrow as he beheld the malice in her expression.

"I shall tell you it in full time my friend. But for now, prepare your forces. We have a treaty to destroy."

XX

"Arise Sir Alymere, Sir Dagonet, Gareth, Kay, Lucan and Safer, knights of Camelot!" Arthur proclaimed from the bottom of the steps to the thrones and the six newest knights, having more than earned their stripes, were finally made true knights of Camelot.

Gwen began to applaud from her throne and the entire room followed suit, as the other knights surged forward, dressed in all their finery and began shaking hands with the new knights. Morgana and Gwen descended from the throne platform where the three thrones sat and began congratulating the knights as well, and Gaius came up behind Merlin, smiling fondly.

"Excellent, about time we had some new knights. There might be some days off for you coming, more people to protect Arthur." He said and Merlin snorted in amusement.

"Fat chance. But at least something finally seems to be going our way. We've got more knights, Kay chose our side and Alvarr is in retreat. Arthur and Gwen are happy and safe for the moment, Morgana is happy, home and not trying to kill us all which is always a bonus and the terror birds aside, we have no major problems on the horizon." Merlin said cheerfully, and grinned at Gareth who gave him a salute, and was about to go and talk to the new knights when Gaius burst his bubble.

"Aside from the fact that Alvarr is still out there and his use of the terror birds points to someone else being involved." Gaius stated grimly, and Merlin groaned.

"Five minutes Gaius, that was all I wanted, five minutes in which I could pretend everything was going our way." He whined and Gaius gave a weak chuckle.

"I know, and I'm sorry my boy. But someone more powerful than Alvarr gave him that spell to create the terror birds, there's no way he could have known it otherwise. And I also suspect that Alvarr wasn't the one behind the enchantments on you. Which also begs the question...how did he know who you truly are?" Gaius muttered and Merlin frowned, shaking his head.

Loathe though he was to admit it, Gaius was right. True he might be mistaken about Alvarr working for someone else, but by the traditions of the ancient law of sod, if anything could be done to make Merlin's life and destiny that much more difficult it would happen, so he was probably right. And the timing didn't make sense. Even if Alvarr was somehow linked with the Hassassin, he still shouldn't have known about Kay, he and Morgana had only found out about him because she'd looked at the right time. And he highly doubted there was any way for anyone to have been able to tell about Kay until he actually activated his powers, which meant Alvarr had come here afterwards to try and get his hands on Kay. Which in turn meant someone within was responsible for the enchantment on Merlin if not more. Which meant that there was once again an enemy within the walls of Camelot.

Great.

"Merlin?" Gaius asked quietly, and Merlin, his mind lost in thought, shivered suddenly.

"I don't know Gaius, I just have a bad feeling. I thought we might have stopped everything that was to come when Morgana came back, but now I'm not so sure. The die is cast. And Camelot's great trial has begun." He whispered darkly, but was disturbed from his dark musings as a hand touched his shoulder and Merlin leapt about a foot in the air, swearing as he did so.

Turning he saw Gaius and Arthur laughing at him and he glowered at the two of them as Arthur looked at him expectantly.

"You going to tell me then?" he asked, and Merlin looked at him in confusion.

"Tell you what?" he asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice for fear that Arthur had heard what he was just saying to Gaius.

"What you were doing with Kay that was so fun that you didn't show up to do your proper job?" Arthur asked, his voice dangerously pleasant which Merlin knew full well was a warning sign.

"That's my fault sire." Kay said nervously, appearing from nowhere, making Gaius jump. Merlin grinned at him triumphantly and turned back to watch the interchange between Arthur and Kay.

"And how is it your fault my servant doesn't show up to do his job?" Arthur asked and Merlin breathed a silent sigh of relief as Gwen came up beside him, at least his punishment wouldn't be too bad now.

"He's been teaching me how to read." Kay said easily and Arthur's eyes widened in surprise.

"You can't read?" Gwen asked curiously, though it didn't sound like she was judging, instead she was getting the look on her face she got when she got an idea in her head.

"No. And I was worried I might have to read or sign something and wouldn't be able to, so I asked Merlin to teach me to read." Kay said, this time lying fluently and easily, and Merlin, bad though it was, couldn't help but feel slightly proud of him for lying to Arthur so well.

"Oh...right then. Well I suppose that's alright then. Just..." Arthur muttered and Gwen smiled.

"Just ask me next time you want to borrow Merlin. Arthur doesn't like to share." She said with a wide smile, and Arthur glared at her.

"I do so like to share." He protested and she smirked and winked at Merlin.

"Yeah, just not Merlin, he's just yours." She said in teasing voice and made her escape before Arthur went chasing after her, growling while Merlin, Gaius and Kay laughed.

"You're getting better at lying." Gaius said, not quite approving but not quite disapproving either.

"Is it a lie when you want it to be true?" Kay asked and Merlin looked at him in surprise.

"You actually can't read?" he asked, and Kay shook his head.

"No, my uncle didn't see much point in it, he thought I was going to be a blacksmith all my life, not a knight so he didn't bother. Can you teach me please?" he asked hopefully and Merlin and Gaius grinned at each other.

"Course we will." Gaius said fondly and Kay grinned and headed off, leaving Merlin and Gaius chuckling in his wake.

XX

Alvarr left the bird at the foot of the stairs, figuring Mircéhreohr would eat it later. The steed had served him well, but now he was on his own. Now he had to report failure to Nimueh, and he feared she would not forgive failure lightly.

As he entered the main courtyard, he looked around to see the forces Nimueh was already beginning to accumulate. Along with Agravaine and Lancelot, Cenred had returned with a report after allowing himself to be seen in Essetir. Davros had also temporarily returned. Mordred was sitting by a fire with several of his own men, laughing with Enmyria. The blasted dragon was sitting in the corner, coiled up, flanked by two wyvern, not far from the throne on which sat a furious looking Nimueh.

"Did you think dawdling would make me less angry Alvarr?" Nimueh hissed and he fell to his knees before her.

"No my lady of course not, the bird cannot move very fast, that's all I swear!" he protested, but her eyes narrowed dangerously and to his great alarm the bracelet she was wearing coiled around her wrist moved.

"I'm sure." She said derisively and Alvarr then spotted two vicious yellow eyes on her bracelet and he realised what it was.

A nathair.

"My lady please I beg you, don't-" he never got a chance to finish, as her eyes flashed gold and the little black snake leapt at him, making him scream in terror as it punished him. Mordred was watching with interest, purely professional, while Enmyria did look concerned for her lover. And the others were either sadistically enjoying it, or morbidly watching it, all the while hearing the dark chuckles of Mircéhreohr over the screams of Alvarr.

Nimueh watched with smug satisfaction as Alvarr twisted and writhed on the ground. Alvarr did have some uses that was true, as did Davros, Cenred, Agravaine, Lancelot and Enmyria.

But now the time for playing was over. Her allies were beginning to gather, as were her forces.

And now, it was time to up her game, greater weapons were needed for the battles to come. And the dragon had been right. It was time she recalled the Blood Guard (the ones that were left after that silly girl Morgause had gotten so many killed). Also, Alvarr's band were foolish, arrogant and small. There existed a greater force, and she could use that to her own advantage once she found it. And besides, Ruadan was an old ally of hers. But more than anything, it was time her most dedicated servant was returned to her, the greatest of all the Blood Guard. The one who had risked everything for her, and one of the most dangerous men in all the kingdoms. She would have her most faithful servant returned to her.

Smiling, she swept into her chambers, Alvarr's screams piercing the night, and began to look for the ones she sought.

XX

The city within the wooden walls was fairly large, surrounded by a large deep blue lake. Jagged and dark trees lined the shores, giving the city an imposing look. At the back of the city, a large stone arch had been built over a large bridge, covering the deep lake and leading to a high mound of land, upon which sat a tall, fortress like tower. And it was into here that the rider rode, entering the tower and allowing his horse to be taken back over the bridge to the royal stables.

The man dashed up the stairs, bound for the throne room, ignoring the sounds from everywhere but his location. Reaching the top of the castle, he shoved open the doors to see the throne room.

Covered in wooden panelling, there were roaring fires in every grate, with long wooden tables spread throughout the room. The messenger ran past the large round slab of stone, embossed with two intertwined snakes, and promptly fell to his knees at the steps to the throne, the entire room, filled with men dressed in leather, armour and other garments, all black, all of them sporting the red snakes embossed on their shields or arms, went silent.

"You seem to have something important to tell me. Rise." The voice, still firm, hard and strong after all these years commanded, and he got to his feet and beheld the highest ranking members of court.

In the main throne, made of iron, sat King Vortigern, the king of all the Saxons. A gaunt man, he was nevertheless powerfully built, his fighting days still upon him. He was clad in a dark blue outfit of a military cut, draped with the pelts of animals he had killed and binds of leather running up his arms. His eyes were wicked and sharp, his gaze as ruthless as his manner and rule. A jagged crown of silver covered the short, severe grey hair that covered his head, matching his grey eyes.

Behind and to his left was Vortigern's son, Catigern. The prince of the realm, he was not long into his true manhood, clad in jet black armour, the two serpents of the Saxons embossed in silver upon his breastplate. A lethal sword hung at his waist, melding into his well built body. His eyes were bluer than his fathers, but just as cold, though there was an excitement there as well. His hair was dark and short, wavy on top which made him the source of ogling throughout the kingdom for any whore that took his fancy.

But it was the other two that were the more intimidating sights. A massive giant of a man, he was nearly as wide as he was tall, however his width was not due to fat, but pure muscle. Covered in hair, he was draped in a cloak made from a direwolf that he had killed with his bare hands. His arms and legs like cannons, his chest like double barrels, his hair was brown and hanging to his shoulders, the top of his head beginning to go bald, and a large beard marked his face. His eyes were wicked and small but no less deadly, and in his hands was a large war hammer. His name was Hengest, the warlord, the general of all the Saxons and Vortigern's closest advisor.

But the one behind the throne itself, primed to whisper in the kings ear, that was the one who frightened grown men. Dressed in a flowing gown of shimmering gold, this was Maleagant, the Blood Sorceress, most trusted advisor to the king, for all intents and purposes she was all but queen. Acting as both friend, advisor, sister and mother to Vortigern, she performed much the same role to the heir to the throne, but was a lot more flirtatious in her dealings with him, knowing how much he desired her. Not old enough to be considered old, or even middle aged, but not young enough to be considered truly young, she was somewhere in between. A tall woman, she was slim and supple, her breasts not exactly large but not unnoticeable either. Her limbs were long and spindly looking, but they belied the true power in them, the blood red long nails and multiple decorations around her wrists showing her wealth, as did the large golden collar embossed with a red jewel around her neck. She had attracted many a gaze with her body alone, but her face was also a thing of beauty. Haughty, arrogant, beautiful, and deadly were many of the words used to describe her. Her high cheekbones gave her a look that would have been gaunt on anyone else, but she was fuller of face, giving her a beautiful but dangerous look. Her black eyes were wicked and calculating, utterly without warmth or devotion unless looking at the king or prince. Her hair was long and flowing, blood red in nature, styled high and combed into a tail. And on her face were small blood red tattoos, small drops of blood marked onto her skin beneath her eyes while there was a large drop on each side of her forehead and a further one beneath her bottom lip, and while it may put some off, it only added to her mystique. She was a Blood Sorceress, a powerful magic user, and a very deadly player of the politics that plagued the Saxon court.

"My king, I have just found out, your old foe, Uther Pendragon of Camelot, is dead a year past, and his son Arthur now rules in his stead." The messenger reported and then looked to the king.

Who threw back his head and laughed, a dark, evil cackle that would have made anyone shiver. Maleagant smiled behind him, and Hengest and Catigern smiled in anticipation.

A generation ago, just after the Great Purge, Vortigern had led the Saxons in an invasion of Albion, seeking to use the chaos of the purge and the weakness of the kingdoms to their advantage. Uther had rallied an army, gathering troops from across the five kingdoms and had firmly sacked the Saxons, forcing them back over the water into retreat, breaking their spirit and driving them away from Albion. But while they had retreated, they hadn't lost. As soon as they got back they had begun to once more arm for war, preying on their neighbours, all of them waiting for the day this time would come.

When they would get the chance to invade Albion once more, and make it pay tenfold for what Uther had done to them in their last war. And now Uther was dead, his son ruled, and no one in Albion had seen the Saxons for more than a century.

"Finally! Beroun!" Vortigern barked and a tall, broad man came forward and bowed his balding head.

"Yes sire?"

Vortigern smiled in a way akin to a snake would.

"Ride to the other cities. Tell them to prepare their armies. Hengest, rally the army and the fleet. Uther is finally dead. And now, we will get what is rightfully ours. Rightfully mine. We will attack Albion, and we will raze Camelot to the ground. Who's with me?" Vortigern asked to the room at large as he finished his speech, and the entire room burst into cheers, the thought of war permeating the room, and as one, the Saxons grinned, drew their swords and bowed to their king, who smiled.

"Keep what you own," he began.

"And take what you don't!" the men assembled bellowed and cheers, claps and whistled filled the room as the Saxons once more prepared for war.

This time Camelot would fall.

**And here we are again!**

**Firstly, I'll apologise once again for the massive break, I did mean to do this earlier but then my other stories got in the way, and series five depressed me (poor Aithusa, poor Merlin, poor Arthur and yes even poor Morgana) and then writing my dissertation seemed to stretch on for ever (youd be surprised how much I can write when i really enjoy the subject im writing about, this for example) but now we're back on track**

**So here we are with two new chapters. That's the first section of the story over, we have a few more before the true calamity takes place but we're now back on track with a bit of luck. So, Alvarr has returned, Kay has made his choice and once more there is a traitor in Camelot. And if that wasnt enough Carrigan wants ever more power, Merlin as always has to keep his secret safe and now he's screwing Morgana behind Arthur's back on top of it all. At least we now have some new knights to lend a hand.**

**The look of the terror birds that attacked are based off of the terror birds in Primeval by the way.**

**And now events are on the move. Nimueh is gathering her forces, her plan coming to fruition. How many allies does she have to gather? Where do the Saxons fit in? And just who is it she is most keen to summon? And most important of all, what does this plan of hers entail?**

**Her plan begins next time in earnest as she begins to manipulate events for the great battle to come. Merlin senses something is coming and indeed it is, forces are now on the move that cannot be undone and tensions start to rise in Camelot next chapter.**

**Arthur is trying to make peace with the eastern kingdoms, but you can be sure Nimueh will be opposed to that. The Saxons are gathering, and Nimueh is on the move. So the next section we have the upcoming peace treaty, the events surrounding that, rising tensions as it becomes clear that great events are in motion, a return of Dragoon and someone else finds out about Merlin all in the next section!**

**Hopefully it will be updated a lot sooner (especially since I've just finished watching all five seasons through on dvd (i was in tears with the last episode)) so hopefully poor Merlin will not be as neglected as he has been of late**

**Sorry again for the long wait, hope it was worth it, and until next time, please read and review!**


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